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Sara Mast is a widely exhibited artist whose paintings are included in over 30 public and private collections in the United States and Europe. Her work is included in two publications: Encaustic Painting: Contemporary Expression in the Ancient Medium of Pigmented Wax, authored by Joanne Mattera and published by Watson-Guptill of New York (2001) and New American Paintings (Western competition, 2001), published by The Open Studios Press, Wellesley, MA. Her most recent solo exhibitions were at Dennis Morgan Gallery in Kansas City, MO in 2006, and at the Ender Guzey Musezi in Bodrum, Turkey in 2007. In 2008, she was a featured artist in a show entitled New Talent, at the Rosenfeld Gallery in Philadelphia, PA; she had a two-person exhibition with Terry Karson entitled Connecting the Dots at the University of Montana-Western in Dillon, was invited to participate in the Encaustic Invitational at the Missoula Art Museum in Missoula, and was in a juried exhibition at Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, IL, entitled One Planet, One Experiment. In 2007-08, she received and completed a public art commission for the Harborview Trauma Center in Seattle, WA. Most recently, she was a featured artist in an exhibition entitled Arp’s Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies at the Schneider Museum of Art at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, OR. Sara teaches drawing and painting and is the Foundations program director for the School of Art at Montana State University, Bozeman, MT.
Artist Statement:
Painting offers me the opportunity to explore a remote view of the world, as I visualize sight through the technological eye of a satellite looking down or through a high-powered telescope looking up and out. My work is imaginal, yet appropriates a range of scientifically accurate data from star charts to magnetic resonance images of neuronal dendrites. Elements of ancient languages intermingle with navigational artifacts of both sky and sea. The translucent, almost flesh-like quality of the encaustic medium makes a reference to the body, and allows me to embed layers of information that are revealed as if seen through geologic or archaeological strata. Natural pigments are fused into the surface. Flecks of pigmented wax gather and dissolve in forms that reference land masses, clouds or cosmic dust and stars, expanding and contracting like living organisms.
I seek out these patterns and visual connections as a means of discovering a 'psycheographic' location that embraces both the material and the spiritual, both of this world and simultaneously beyond the world. Exploring our contemporary understanding of the universe based on astrobiological and modern scientific research alongside research into the cosmologies of ancient cultures, I want to invent my own visual equivalents for the evolution of scientific theories about the nature of the universe and our place in it. I am particularly curios about the relationship between our own bodies and the body of the universe and what role the stars have played in our own biological development. By creating works that contemplate our relationship to our biological origin in the stars, I am attempting to map new territories that overlay our primal mythologies with current scientific research to generate 21st century images that enfold our new level of understanding.
As David Darling states in his book Life Everywhere: The Maverick Science of Astrobiology:
''In a sense, we're all extraterrestrial. The particles in our bodies were once scattered across many light years, and we're literally made of stardust. Every atom heavier than hydrogen of which we're composed was forged in the deep interior of a star now long dead. That is perhaps the most awe-inspiring truth that science has ever revealed, as wonderful as anything ever dreamed up in fiction.''
Biography
Born Davenport, Iowa
Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions
2011 As Above, So Below, The Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (Solo)
2009 Excavating Wonder, Gallery at R & F Handmade Paints, Kingston, NY (Solo)
2008 Connecting the Dots, University of Montana Western, Dillon, MT (Two-person)
2007 Impressions from Turkey, Ender Guzey Muzesi, Bodrum, Turkey (Solo)
2007 Home, Aunt Dofe’s Hall of Recent Memory, Willow Creek, MT (Two-person)
2006 New Work, Dennis Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO (Solo) (Review–Kansas City Star)
2005 Livingston Center for Arts & Culture, Livingston, MT (Solo )
2003 Toucan Gallery, Billings, MT (Two-person)
2003 New American Paintings, Dana Gallery, Missoula, MT (Two person)
2002 Terry Karson & Sara Mast: Collaborative Works, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT (Two-person)
2001 Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND (Two-person) (catalog)
2001 Anderson Gallery, Deaconess Hospital, Billings, MT (Two-person)
2000 Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO (Two-person )
2000 Lost and Found, CSPS, Cedar Rapids, IA (Two-person )
1999 Flanders Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, MN (Two-person )
1998 Toucan Gallery, Billings, MT (Two-person)
1997 Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO (Two-person)
1997 The Fall, Armstrong Gallery, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA (Two-person)
1997 Signs of Spring, Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, Great Falls, MT; Custer County Art Museum, Miles City, MT
1997 Art Museum of Missoula, Missoula, MT (Two-person traveling exhibition)
1996 Bridge Street Gallery, Bigfork, MT (Two-person)
1995 The Women's Center, Billings, MT (Solo)
1995 Western Eclectic Gallery, Whitefish, MT (Two-person)
1995 Copper Village Art Center, Anaconda, MT (Two-person)
1995 artFirst Cooperative Gallery, Billings, MT (Two-person)
1994 Nicolaysen Museum, Casper, WY (Two-person)
1994 Montana State University-Billings, MT (Two-person)
Group Exhibitions
2011 Repertoire, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL
2010 Wax On Wax Off, Visions West Gallery, Denver, CO
2010 Double Vision, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT
2010 Ten Years, Turman Larison Contemporary, Helena, MT
2009 Always Already, Chicago Art Source Gallery, Chicago, IL
2009 Arp’s Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, Schneider Museum of Art, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR
2009 Re(Search): Exploring the Relationship between Art and Science, Indiana State University Art Gallery, Terre Haute, IN
2009 Montana Triennial, Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT
2009 Works on Paper, Turman Larison Contemporary, Helena, MT
2009 Biennial MSU Faculty exhibition, Jessie Wilber Gallery, Emerson Cultural Center, Bozeman, MT
2008 New Talent, The Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2008 One Planet, One Experiment, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
2008 Encaustic Invitational, Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT
2008 Gifts to Montana: The Legacy of Miriam Sample, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT (Selected works from Montana art museum collections)
2008 Cornell Alumni Painting Exhibition, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA (Visiting Artist/Lecturer)
2008 Excellence and Degrees, Carroll College, Helena, MT
2007 Montana Abstract Invitational, Turman Larison Contemporary, Helena, MT
2007 28th Annual Southeastern Montana Juried Exhibit, Works on Paper Custer County Art & Heritage Center, Miles City, MT, (Second place award)
2007 Women in Wax: Birds, Butterflies and Bees, Walking Man Gallery, Whitefish, MT
2007 Faculty Exhibition, Helen E. Copeland Gallery, Montana State University
2006 For the Love of a Tree, She Went Out on a Limb: Women in Art of the Northern Plains, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT
2006 Art of Survival-Healing in Life, Ucross Foundation Art Gallery, Ucross, WY
2005 Montana Connections, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT,
2005 Artist Forest Community, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT
2004 Large Scale: Selections from the Permanent Collection, (read article) Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT
2004 Connections, Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
2004 Tiny Works 2004, Project Gallery, Wichita, KS
2004 Legacy of Place, Beall Park Art Center, Bozeman ,MT
2004 Baum Gallery of Fine Art, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AK
2003 Past—Present—Future, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT, Montana Collection
2003 MSU Collects, Helen Copeland Gallery, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
2003 Summerstock, Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2003 Art of Survival-Healing in Life, St. Vincent's Hospital, Billings, MT,(Traveling )(catalog). Traveled to: Beall Park Art Center, Bozeman, MT, and St. John's Lutheran Hospital, Libby, MT, 2004
2002 Bioglyphs: An Art/Science Collaboration, Manhattan College, New York, NY
2002 Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2002 ANA 31, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT (Juror: Gerald Peters)
2002 Fields of Pattern, Beall Park Art Center, Bozeman, MT
2002 Bioglyphs: A Living Collaboration with Bioluminescent Organisms, Exit Gallery, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT (faculty project leadership role)
2001 Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2001 Apex Gallery, School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD
2001 Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2001 Encaustics '01, The Muroff-Kotler Visual Art Gallery, Ulster County Community College, Stone Ridge, NY (Director’s award) (catalog)
2001 Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY and Ucross Foundation, Clearmont, WY (catalog)
2001 Art From Detritus, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, NYC, NY
2001 Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University-Bozeman, Bozeman, MT
2000 The John and Maxine Belger Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO
2000 International Group Show, Caelum Gallery, New York, NY
2000 Summerscapes, Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1999 Encaustic Works 1999, R & F Encaustics, Kingston, NY (Juror: Judy Pfaff) (catalog)
1999 The Great Plains and Beyond, Fresh Paint Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1999 Tiny Works, Little Licks, Project Gallery, Wichita, KS
1999 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1999 Dragonfly Gallery, Martha's Vineyard, MA
1999 Alumni Exhibition, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA
1998 Faculty Exhibition, University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA
1998 Bridge Street Gallery, Bigfork, MT
1998 Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT
1998 Art Museum of Missoula, Missoula, MT
1997 Two Studios, One Bed, Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, WA
1997 Wild Woman Salon, Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1996 The Great Garbage Binge Art Show, Emerson Cultural Center, Bozeman, MT. Traveled to: Boise State University and Inkvision Gallery, Boise, ID, Pend Orielle Arts Council, Sandpoint, ID (Jurors: Richard Notkin & Phoebe Toland) (catalog)
1996 Sutton West Gallery, Missoula, MT
1995 Artists Who Teach, Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, Great Falls, MT (catalog)
Collections
Daum Museum of Art, Sedalia, MO
The Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT
Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT
3M Corporation, Minneapolis, MN
Stowers Corporation, Kansas City, MO
DST, Incorporated, Kansas City, MO
The John and Maxine Belger Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO
Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA
Framingham State College, Framingham, MA
Wellness Center, Billings, MT
Awards & Honors
2008 Commission, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA
2007 Second Place award, Custer County Art & Heritage Center, Miles City, MT, Works on Paper
2003 National Science Foundation Semi-Finalist Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge, sponsored by the journal Science and the National Science Foundation
2002 Award for Excellence in teaching, sponsored by MSU & Bozeman Chamber of Commerce
2001 Director's Award, Encaustic Works '01, Muroff-Kotler Visual Arts Gallery, Stone Ridge, NY
1998 Montana Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship
1992 Second Place, Crumbacher Gallery, Billings, MT, Women in Art
Residencies & Workshops
2005 Artist-Forest-Community (sponsored by the Helena National Forest & Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT)
2005 Contemporary Relief Printmaking: Wood to Poly-Sintra, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO
2002 University of California Riverside Museum of Photography, Los Angeles, CA
2001 Rio de Artes, Bosque Lluvioso Foundation, Guapiles, Costa Rica
2001 Ucross Foundation, Ucross, WY
1998 Artist-Forest-Community (sponsored by the Helena National Forest & Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT)
Grants
2010 Research/Creativity grant, College of Arts and Architecture, Montana State University, entitled: Painting and Printmaking: Mapping New Territories: A publication
2009 Scholarship and Creativity grant, Montana State University, entitled: Painting & Printmaking: Mapping New Territories, for the production of new work integrating painting and printmaking
2008 Research/Creativity grant, College of Arts and Architecture, Montana State University, entitled: Painting and Printmaking: Mapping New Territories, for print studio facility and printmaking project
2007 Thermal Biology Institute & Big Sky Institute, Montana State University: Art & Science collaboration
2007 Scholarship and Creativity grant, Montana State University, entitled: Painting Across Cultures: A Visual Dialogue, for visual art research in Turkey
2006 Research/Creativity grant, College of Arts and Architecture, Montana State University, entitled: Cross Cultural Dialogue: An Artist Residency and Exhibition in Turkey
2005 Scholarship and Creativity grant, Montana State University, entitled: From the Ancient East to the Modern West: The Universal Language of Pattern for visual art research in Turkey
2003 Research/Creativity grant, College of Arts and Architecture, Montana State University, entitled: The Grid, Pattern and Abstraction in Islamic Carpet Design for travel and visual art research in Turkey
Reviews
Kansas City Star, Kansas City, MO, November 23, 2006, Sarah Mote
Review magazine, Kansas City, MO, January, 2001
Kansas City Star, Kansas City, MO, July 28, 2000
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, July 23, 1999
Missoulian, Missoula, MT, November 7, 1997, Sherry Jones
The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, IA, October 18, 1997, Evelyn Lauer
Casper Star-Tribune, Casper, WY, October 30, 1994, Bruce Richardson
Publications & Articles
Art and Science Now, by Stephen Wilson, published by Thames & Hudson, New York, NY, 2010 (Bioglyphs collaborative project)
Los Angeles Times, New Views of the Old West, by Stephanie Simon, April 13, 2008 (syndicated column published in Seattle Times, Portland Oregonian, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald & others)
Big Sky Journal, Images of the West: The Art of a Changing Landscape, by Michele Corriel, Winter, 2007
Bozeman Chronicle At Home, Layers in Time, by Michele Corriel, Vol 7, No. 11, October 31, 2006
Making Connections: Works from the Permanent Collection of the Yellowstone Art Museum, 2005 (catalog)
New American Paintings, Western edition; The Open Studios Press, Wellesley, MA, 2001
Encaustic Painting: Contemporary Expression in the Ancient Medium of Pigmented Wax, by Joanne Mattera, published by Watson Guptill, NYC, NY, 2001
High Ground/Two Studios, One Bed. Limited edition art book published by Marilyn Lysohir & Ross Coates, Moscow, ID, August, 1997
Education
1983 MFA, Queens College, NYC, NY–Painting and Drawing
1980-81
New York Studio School, NYC, NY
1980 Art Students League, NYC, NY
1979-80
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA–Painting and Drawing
1978 BSS, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA–Art and Psychology, Magna Cum Laude
1978 The Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME
1977 Centro d’Lorenzo Medici, Florence, Italy
Professional Experience
2009-Present
Associate Professor, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, Drawing & Painting
2003-2008
Assistant Professor, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, Foundations Program coordinator, Drawing & Painting
2009 Presenter–3rd Annual Encaustic conference, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA, Working Large
2008 Presenter–2nd National Encaustic conference, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA, Working Large
2001-2003
Adjunct Professor–Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
2002 Presenter–ARTSCI 2002, Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, Bioglyphs: An Art/Science Collaboration with Bioluminescent Organisms
2002 Presenter–Exploratorium Museum, San Francisco, CA, Bioglyphs: A Living Collaboration with Bioluminescent Organisms
2001 Presenter–Bioneers Conference, San Rafael, CA, Art & Nature in Corrections
1998-2000
Visiting Assistant Professor–University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
1997-98
Adjunct Professor–Montana State University, Billings, MT
1997-98
Adjunct Professor–Rocky Mountain College, Billings, MT
1997-98
Art Inside Out program, Montana Womens Prison, Billings, MT
1997-98
Visiting Artist–Poets on the Prairie, Writers Voice Artists-in-Schools program, Billings, MT. Sponsored by the Lila Wallace/Readers Digest Fund.
1996-97
Glass Walls project, Montana Womens Prison, Billings, MT. Sponsored by the Montana State Office of Architecture and Engineering, Helena, the Womens Correctional Center, Billings, and the Montana Arts Council's Artists in Schools/Communities program, as funded by the State of Montana and the National Endowment for the Arts. |
