Sara McKenzie (She/Her)
My artistic evolution was highly influenced by my life’s layered geography. Born in Nebraska, and raised in both Southern California and Massachusetts, I developed an openness to contradiction: coast and prairie, order and improvisation. Life was shaped by curiosity and a hands-on relationship with a variety of media and materials: fabric, fiber, glass, paper, clay and paint, exploring visual relationships and emotional expression. Simultaneously, I trained and built a career grounded in science, data and design. I spent 40 years in the field of biotechnology, developing novel new drugs. Despite always identifying as a maker, I did not fully embrace the label “artist” until recently. Based in Santa Fe, NM, since 2014, and following study of landscape, figurative and abstract painting with local accomplished artists, I now devote myself to abstract painting. Since my first public exhibition in 2023, my career has expanded beyond borders, with my work appearing in exhibitions across the United States and Europe.
Artist Statement:
My painting is an act of discovery shaped by a life lived between scientific research and visual art. After four decades in biotechnology, where hypothesis, experimentation, and revision were daily practice, I came to see rigor and imagination as complementary rather than opposing forces.
In the studio, I approach the canvas as an experimental field. I layer pastels, acrylics, collage, and dimensional materials over time, often removing as much as I add. Each mark becomes information; each revision reshapes the inquiry. Rather than pursuing a predetermined image, I allow the conditions of the work to evolve, responding to emerging tensions in color, structure, and space.
Method remains consistent, but every painting unfolds as an unrepeatable event shaped by shifting perception and material behavior. Guided by the ethos Ancora Imparo — I am still learning — my work resists formula and embraces ongoing investigation. Each painting is not a conclusion, but a continuation of inquiry.
