FOR VISUAL ARTIST Sarah Wright, the winding path of her practice began with a love for Color Field painters like Mark Rothko and Helen Frankenthaler. Since realigning her creative energy during the pandemic, Wright has built a reputation for landscapes in her adopted home of Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she recreates scenes from her travels in abstract snapshots with deep colors and strong lines. ArtDesk spoke with Wright ahead of her debut on the Lake Street Display at this summer’s Green Box Arts Festival in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado.
How did you develop your art practice?
Art was always my favorite subject in school—if there was an art class, I took it. It wasn’t until college that it became apparent it could actually be something I could do as a career. I had really great professors who were also painters, and I graduated from Randolph College in Virginia with a degree in studio art. I moved back to Oklahoma City, and I painted a little bit and worked for an arts nonprofit. Then I got married, moved away, had kids, and that sort of fell into the background a little bit. I would paint here and there for little things but not necessarily as a full practice.
When did you get serious about painting again?
During the pandemic we were all just huddled indoors, and I was faced with a big life change. I got all my paintbrushes and bought some canvas and started painting again. I realized how much I had missed it and how much I had to say. I painted one painting after another and another. I thought, “Let’s see where this takes me.”
How have the places you’ve called home imprinted themselves on your work?
Colorado is just amazing: waterfalls, rock formations, and a variety of landscapes. Oklahoma was also a big inspiration for me, with its incredible sunsets and bucolic rolling plains. It had an impression on me, but I didn’t realize I would take that and make it into art. I’ll go out and I’ll visit waterfalls and different types of landscapes in Colorado, and come back with those memories and start painting them. I start creating this impression of that space and how I felt about it. I use a lot of color to guide me and how I’m feeling.
When did you know abstraction was how you wanted to capture those scenes and memories?
I jumped into abstraction very early. I was drawn to abstract expressionists, the Color Field painters. I just love how they really pushed the envelope and took painting to another place. I thought, “Look what you can do.” It’s important to learn how to draw correctly, but once you have it down, for me it was like, “Where can I go next?” Abstraction gave me this freedom, and it was exciting—and you didn’t have to worry about making it look exactly like the actual place.
How has your practice changed from when you first began painting?
When I was in undergrad, it was very celestial: My brushstrokes are very expressive and free-flowing. When I started painting again, I used tape to get that sharp line. It kind of gave me the structure I needed to be expressive in these bold colors. It really kind of excited me, and I just kept going with that.
What can we expect from your work on the Lake Street Display at the Green Box Arts Festival?
It’s called Sunset at Gazebo Lake. I recreated a scene from around that lake. I just wanted to recreate that beautiful feeling of sitting there watching the sunset. It’s a bit heightened, but that’s what I do. I wanted to have something very vibrant—and, you know, who doesn’t love to sit around and watch a sunset?
