Sara Sián

Bio

Sara was christened Sarah Jane but has adopted Sara Siân (pronounced ‘Sara Shaan’) – the Welsh version of her name given to her by her Welsh Grandfather. She currently resides in George with her husband Dion, two children, Bethany & Joshua and ‘studio companion’ Marley, their Golden Retriever.

For the last few years Sara has been creating full time and has a number of exhibitions and commissions under her belt and has many works hanging in homes and offices around the world. She has been shortlisted in various competitions, most recently for the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year Competition with her piece “The Axe Forgets but the Tree Remembers”.

As an artist, Sara Sián is inspired by the vibrant beauty and inner strength of women, capturing their essence and divine ‘Goddess’ spirit. Women have a strength all of their own, built on hopes and dreams, reality and adversity. Often, they wear a mask only allowing others so see what they want them to but there is always so much more under the surface.

By channeling her own journey and life experiences, she creates mixed-media artworks that invite viewers to explore and connect with the emotions and stories woven into every detail.

Sara has always had a love of charcoal and whilst she enjoys incorporating different mediums, charcoal is a constant. It is expressive whilst also enabling detail and a softness which allows both an abstract or realistic, but sensitive feel.

The gold leaf that features in many of her works was initially used to highlight the jewellery of the African women in a Goddess series from a few of years ago. Sara loves the medium and how it can really enhance and bring a richness and life to a piece. Its delicacy symbolizes the delicacy of life and yet its gold colour symbolizes power and strength.

The contradiction is not purely incidental. Gold leaf has become almost a ‘signature’ of Sara’s in many ways. Its flimsiness makes it quite tricky and extremely messy to work with but with undeniably beautiful results.

Recently Sara has started mixing charcoal and various other mediums in a more abstract way – splashing paint on the canvas or board in a free, expressive way initially and then drawing the face in charcoal on top. More layers of paint, pastels, collage, rubbing back and repeating to recreate ‘layers of time and experience’ and to remind us that none of us are simply what we see on the surface. It delves into history, the lives gone before us, layers of time rubbed back and painted over. Words are meaning obscured but still a hint remain as a reminder of what once was.

Sara reflects about the things that she is drawn to: history, symbols, patterns, spirituality, nature, mark making, design, words, collage, these are all things that influence her work both consciously and unconsciously.

Beauty might be frivolous to many and often seems insignificant in a world with so much violence and discord, but to Sara this is the very reason that we need beauty in this world. She believes that we are all craving human connection more than ever and her artworks are a way to contribute towards that connection.