Try Anything

Artist / Maker Sarah Grant (American, b. 1953)

Date2011

MediumAcrylic and collage on paper

Dimensions14 × 14 in. (35.6 × 35.6 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineThis is an Iowa Art in State Buildings Project for the Chemistry Department at Hach Hall. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberU2012.81

Status

On view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextArtist’s statement: My paintings are short stories of life experiences, be they my own or others. They are also evoked and inspired by subject matter from things I have read or by events swirling in the world around me. My works on paper and canvas start with the black and white of my printmaking days utilizing drawing materials, acrylic and watercolor paints. This structure building - the bones of the paintings - gives way to multiple layers of color, texture and sometimes the addition of collage pieces torn from old paintings. I use a lot of black and white through the entire process to wipe out and reapply color until a composition and story emerge. At the midpoint to end of the works, I begin to write either within the painting or on the walls around them to compile notes for where the story line is headed until at the painting’s end a title is given to each work. The process is very physical and quick - painting in short spurts on many pieces at once, but perhaps taking months to finish each. Music is ever present while I paint as it energizes me and takes my mind off making the story line emerge too quickly or allowing me to become too wedded to a story that needs to change. Investigating the small moments taken from the bigger picture of life has become the passionate beginning that propels me to paint and convey these messages visually.

PeriodContemporary

Locations