Sarah Stolar
Sarah Stolar in the studio with her pit bull Gabriel and work in-progress for her new project The Grief Club photo credit Jeff Medinas Sarah Stolar (b. 1974, Chicago, IL) is an interdisciplinary artist who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Working from a vast technical perspective, the breadth of her work includes painting, drawing, multi-media installation, film, video and performance art. Rooted in a 20-year investigation of the female psychological narrative, common threads in her work include coming of age, loss of innocence, sexuality, beauty, power, death, spirituality, and identity. Sarah is the daughter of artist and educator Merlene Schain, and in the family lineage of 19th-century German painter Adolph von Menzel and Rookwood Pottery master potter John von Menzel of the American Arts and Crafts Movement. She grew up in her mother’s art studio and award-winning art school Schain Studios in Cincinnati, OH, received a BFA in Painting from the Art Academy of Cincinnati, and an MFA in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute. Sarah's visual art, performance, and collaborative work have exhibited across the United States and in Argentina, Spain, Germany, Austria, Finland, Italy, and Cuba with solo exhibitions at the New Mexico Museum of Art, Harwood Museum of Art, and BGMoCA in Montevideo, Uruguay as well as awards and honors from international film festivals, et al. Her work has been featured in multiple publications including The Nation Magazine, LandEscape Art Review, Nomos Journal, and Hyperallergic. A committed educator for over fifteen years, Sarah Stolar serves on multiple boards and academic committees, and is currently the Chair of the Art Department at the University of New Mexico - Taos. The book mentioned in the interview was The Power by Naomi Alderman. The Grief Mother / The Grief Club performance for video 2020 photo credit Audrey Valentine She-Hulk, oil on canvas, 60x48”, 2018, photo credit Jeff Medinas (exhibited in most recent solo exhibition Alcoves 20/20 at the New Mexico Museum of Art)