Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Saver.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
Prior to this, I have never shared my story about how art saved me. That sounds incredibly dramatic and I hate that it is even part of my narrative as an artist but as I’ve gotten older I have accepted how art has changed me as an individual. Art is healing; there is no doubt about it. Art is a reflection of not only the artist themselves but their environment.
Growing up, I was faced with two big challenges that would shift art in my life from a hobby to a focal point. The first was an unfortunate run-in with sexual abuse at a very young age. I dealt with the repercussions of the first challenge with competitive sports. I was the “sports girl” growing up, playing competitive basketball and softball. I had my mind set on one thing, playing basketball in college.
But at 16, I was faced with my second big challenge. I was diagnosed with a bone condition that would change my day to day life completely. I would spend the next ten years in and out of wheelchairs, off and on crutches, and getting reconstructive bone surgeries to try and fix my ailments. I lost my number one outlet that helped me maintain my mental health.
During the ten years after my diagnosis, it was easy to say I lost my way completely. I was angry all the time and I had the biggest chip on my shoulder. I made terrible decisions, hurt the ones I loved the most (numerous times), and eventually reached a point where I was faced with a choice. Continue to fall down this path and fuck up my life past anything my loved ones ever imagined OR change something.
It took me awhile but I obviously decided to change something. I picked up a pencil and started sketching. At first, it was sketches of roommates or actors that I liked. Then I moved into acrylics, stencils and spray paints. I’d go down to watch the street artist, visited museums and tried to pick apart the layers of iconic paintings. I had found something that redirected the energy I had pent up inside from unfortunate events. Art gave me means to express the raw emotion that was boiling inside of me. It gave me a purpose and a way to distribute my voice. Now, I continue to do that in more than one way.
Please tell us about your art.
I love the idea of being eclectic. I work with numerous mediums and am always intrigued to incorporate new ones. I do a lot of stencil work, sketching, paintings with acrylics, wood burning, and even love to incorporate my poetry at times. Sometimes I will combine them all in one piece.
Over the last year, I have been focused on creating pieces and donating them to a dear friend who is a San Diego Border Dreamer. He takes these donated pieces from local artists to help raise money to fund their activism.
Currently, I am working on a 6-foot piece designed to make a lot of people uncomfortable. Haha. I think the main focus for me is to evoke emotion. My own individual life experiences and challenges are things I have to carry around everyday. I still have bone problems, and I will never be able to change what happened to me as a kid. These realities create an endless flow of raw energy throughout my body. Art will always be my way of keeping my mental health in check and that raw energy. That raw emotion will be evoked within each art piece, whether it is pure joy, laughter, anger or anything in between.
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
I believe the role of artists have become critical if not imperative to today’s world. Artists’ role in today’s world has been a driving force behind my content choice (choice in content) over the past year or so. We are being called to action, something that doesn’t happen everyday, or even every year. I believe we’ve reached a point where enough communities are being affected. The local, national and international events are creating ripples that amount to waves. I have a lot of pieces in WIP right now, and the two prime ones are fixated on current issues.
One specifically is not only a tribute to Keith Haring, one of my biggest influences, but is a presentation of that exact concept you ask about. -Our roles as artists in today’s society. I often wonder what he (Keith Haring) would think about our nation’s current situations and what he would be doing if he were still with us… the piece I am working on is a reflection of that.
The other piece is the 6-foot project that is also documented in the photos I will submit. The young girl and the endless nights sky is a piece based off of the most recent iconic photographs of the young child dressed in pink crying as she was separated from her mother.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I will have my work up in a local coffee shop to be announced come mid-year. And a few pieces will be donated for another art show to help local immigration activists.
This year is a year of changes and all my announcements will be posted on my personal Instagram account.
@sara_saver
Contact Info:
- Email: saraesaver@gmail.com
- Instagram: @sara_saver
Image Credit:
@_rahn.jeii_, Ronald Jay
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