Sarah Palmer’s paintings show uncomfortable moments made somehow beautiful.
After graduating from university and college, I was a graphic designer for seven years and a curator of a small art gallery for two years. For the remainder of my working life, I was a community support coordinator with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). During my time with the CMHA, I woke at 5:30 most mornings to paint for a few hours before work. Isketched in the evenings and painted on the weekends. My art is challenging. I use grotesque characters in the style of German Expressionism to tell difficult stories. You can feel what my characters feel when you look at the anxious expressions in their eyes and the distorted and exaggerated features of their bodies. I use vivid colours, balanced composition, and strange icons of South American Magic Realism to mask the anxiety of the underlying stories. The casual viewer often misses the darker stories in my art. People who engage with my work see shadows of hidden truths confronting our lives.
