What do you seek to express capture or reveal in your work?
My work specifically comes from a space of consciousness of a flow that only comes to me from a higher source. A lot of listening instead of thinking. A lot of focusing and connecting. I seek to express individuality and a sense of identity of the times. My work comes from my surroundings and daily thought patterns. I hope to inspire perspective and different ways of thinking to my peers and also spectators.
You live in Joshua tree how does this inspire your work?
The desert is very expansive. Far out spaces and sand and mountains and mountains and mountains until you can’t see. Not many trees except these lovely weird doctor Seuss trees. The climate is very harsh which attracts little vegetation and animals and people for that matter. It can be very hot and very cold in the same day and there are constant wind storms stirring up the energy. Yet, it can be exceptionally still and grounding within the same moment. It is always fluctuating. One thing you can always rely on though is the sun the beautiful sun. Which helps keep spirits lively.
It also attracts a lot of like minded people doing similar things. A lot of wacky folks with crazy stories. Most people are there to focus on something they’ve always wanted to do. Like buy a house and fix it up or paint lots of paintings or start their own business. You only really go to the desert if you want to be there. It’s a destination for spiritual expansion. People that are looking for space to hone in. It is so expansive that it makes you want to build things. And you are kind of left to your own devices because there isn’t much infrastructure in the desert. Everyone is very DIY.
It is also very accepting culturally. I feel that it is a place to go to become free. Free of judgement. It is very easy to just be. I feel that I found my home in Joshua Tree and my true family. Among the roaring sand of the vast Mojave.
What is your advice for young artists?
Fear none. Trust in the universe and trust in yourself. Society is good at manipulating our minds and our ways of thinking to trap us in boxes so we lose our control and walk around like cloned zombies. They feed us poison and control us in anyway possible so that we won’t step out of line. My advice is to step out of line and preach! Say how you feel. Say what makes you happy and what disrupts you. Stand up for yourself. And love everything as much as you hate it. Because that’s all there is.
What would you consider to be your aesthetic and how does it show itself in your work.
Very loopy, colorful and bright. Surprising.
Sparkly and happy.
Somehow it just reveals itself like that.
I cannot imagine creating in any other way. I always seem to pick up the brightest pencil. It is the most attractive to me.
What does it feel like when you are creating?
It feels like passion. Like my ego lets go and something else takes over. Almost as if it is not ME doing it. Like I am going through the motions and all of a sudden I have created something and it is there but I can’t tell you what happened from the start to the finish.
Sometimes I will put my head down and imagine what the final piece is going to look like. Like it is already a painting before it has ever been painted. Imagination is power. When your imagination stops, you’re dead.
Sarah Harris
totallyblown.us
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