ABOUT
About
Born in London in 1968, the eldest of four. She was a shy introverted child lacking in self confidence with a passion for drawing.
At 13 she was sent away to boarding school, a Church of England private girls school with compulsory morning and evening chapel services. At first it was a living hell really, and it was art and music that helped transport me away. Although her mother had plans for her to have a career in medicine she had other ideas, and with the support of her headmistress and art teacher they managed to persuade my reluctant parents to let her study graphic design, which as it turned out was absolutely useless.She studied ‘old school’ methods, that’s to say, cut and paste by hand. Computers had not quite come to her college yet, but by the time she left they were the new way. To add insult to injury, after she graduated and was looking for work, schlepping her portfolio all over town — it was promptly stolen, and she had nothing to show for her years in college. Lucky for her, this time wasn’t a total loss — because it would be the town where she’d meet her lovely husband Colin. He was a DJ at the time and although he never played the music she requested, she was besotted and eventually made him hers.
In 1992 they moved to S. Florida, year of Hurricane Andrew. They started their own couture latex company called Hotbox Inc. They specialized in custom made fetish rubber clothing. They manufactured their own sheet rubber, which at the time was unheard of. Without any money to push the business forward it was a hard task and eventually they had to call it quits.
Sas worked in a department store, at a commercial art studio and a PIP printing (where she quit on her first day, before lunch)! It was around this time that she first saw an issue of Juxtapoz with a cover by Mark Ryden – and was struck. The urge to paint was growing, but she lacked the knowledge and confidence to do anything about it. It seemed so complicated. Her very early attempts were very graphic, comic book style. Hard colors. ”
Jam Sandwich” was the first layered painting she produced, and is the only one of her pieces that she will keep.
Her original inspirations relied heavily on anime, Tamara De Lempicka and Mark Ryden. She loved the creative expression of the Harajuku kids in Tokyo. They filled her with such hope and excitement. Originally the intention of her paintings was just about creating a strong image, purely visual. She wanted to impart a modern tongue-in-cheek humor, incorporating her experiences. Contemporary, ballsy, flirty, weepy girls; punk, catholic, no-nonsense, damaged but not broken girls. Funny, intelligent, unusual, independent, odd ball, outsiders. Lovely.
The next logical step for her was to move into oils. With no formal fine art training whatsoever, and no knowledge of art history and even less of art technique it seemed like the most complicated thing in the world — fat over lean? What the hell did that mean? So, in 2003 she bought a book off the Internet “How to Paint with Oils.” she decided to give it a go, and has never looked back. Oils have a whole new set of rules.
As time goes on she finds herself relying less on the narrative and more on the emotive. She hopes that her work can connect with people on different levels. She is trying to harness a single moment in time, an emotional response, seemingly insignificant gesture that can mean so much.
