Have you seen Sad Mag’s most recent Sunday Strip? Artist extraordinaire and frequent Sad Mag contributor Sara French, whose work was notably featured in our Vanimaux and Mad Mad World issues, provides cuttingly smart comic relief. Which is one reason, among her many claims to fame, why French is Sad Mag’s newest Vancouver Notable.
As a multidisciplinary artist who works in drawing, performance art, sculpture and video, French has participated in a variety of group exhibitions throughout Vancouver, including 221A, Gam Gallery and the Lion’s Den. Most recently, French exhibited Bills, a solo show in Winnipeg at the independent gallery 672 Sargent that displayed her collection of embroideries. She is currently working with a Toronto artist collective called Department of Unusual Certainties on an upcoming exhibition, slated for fall 2013, exploring housing development, internationally and within the Greater Toronto Area.
In 2014, she will engage in a one-year artist-in-residence for Harcourt House Artist Run Centre.
Sad Mag: Who are you?
Sara French: I am an artist that works in performance art, drawing, video, textiles and writing.
SM: How did you get involved in Sad Mag?
SF: Through my friend Maegan Thomas who writes for Sad Mag. We used to work together.
SM: How did you get started in illustrating?
SF: I was studying English at York University and I started volunteering at an art gallery on campus, Art Gallery of York University or agYU. I liked what I saw, so I started doing it. Once I started, I realized that drawing has so many possibilities and I have never given up.
SM: What or who inspires your work?
SF: I do a lot of work, so that is a big question. I have a day job, I work to keep clean, I workout, but then I make art, which I think is the work you are referring to. I wouldn’t categorize my art making as work. When making art I am inspired by life, I am inspired about the way people live and the choices of living. I explore life through art and the endless odds that we may embrace or not embrace. Life is vast and art helps me engage with it in a more detailed way. I can be different people, explore different lifestyles, try different habits, use my other hand to write, and more. In addition, I am inspired by people, my family, writers, artists, acquaintances, collaborators, friends and myself.
SM: Where are you as you answer these questions?
SF: I am in Edmonton in my room at my desk.
SM: What’s the last comic book/book you read?
SF: My boyfriend has a zine that is 24 pages of amazing comics that he issues every month. It’s called Fatras by Vincent Roche.
I also recently read the first 5 Walking Dead comic books by Tony Moore and I have Black Hole by Charles Burns waiting to be read on my shelf.
SM: What piece of work are you most proud of?
SF: Wow. That’s a hard question. I’m proud of it all, rather than one specific work. But if I had to be proud of one work the most it would be my Norman Eberstein project which I began during my Masters at ECUAD [Emily Carr University of Art and Design] and it’s still ongoing today. The project is vast. Basically I created a character and he is Norman Eberstein. He is an unpaid, self-licensed, non-insured, altruistic, benevolent security guard that has performed at over 30 events and locations over the past 4 years. Most recently he performed at a queer cabaret night in Edmonton called “Queer Summer Night’s Dream.” He has produced a collection of bookworks that are his loggings and reports from his shifts. There are videos, photos, relics, abject remnants, documentation, which are all a part of the project that one day I hope to exhibit.
SM: Who is the one person that has most effective influenced your work?
SF: A lot of women come to mind when I’m asked this question: my best friends, Maryam Yousif, Lois Klassen and my mentor whom recently passed. She was 83 years old, and taught me diving, sailing and swimming, at summer camp. Jan Moldenhauer is her name. One of my favourite writers, whom I’ve met, is Chris Kraus. All these females have greatly affected my work. More importantly, K8 Hardy. She is an amazing artist. She is represented by Reena Spaulings in New York and recently exhibited at the Whitney Biennial. I feel like we are alike, which probably only exists in my head. She makes amazing videos and now she is making fashion. I like all female artists doing DIY now, especially Claire Fontaine and Bernadette Corporation. Most importantly are the people I know personally.
SM: What are you working on right now?
SF: Currently I am working on a new character named Reena Smith who will be performing for an exhibition that is being created in collaboration with the Department of Unusual Certainties, a Torontonian artist collective. The theme of the show is housing development, internationally and within the Greater Toronto Area and it will take place in Markham, Ontario.
SM: What are you most excited about right now?
SF: I was just awarded artist-in-residence for Harcourt House Artist Run Centre here in Edmonton. Starting November 2013, I will begin a one-year residency with the gallery that will conclude with a final exhibition. It is a huge honour and I’m very excited to get started.
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To see some of Sara’s ongoing projects, visit her three blogs below:
FRNDSHPBRCLTS – a collection of her friendship bracelet making works
Collage College – a document of collage parties she has held and will hold
Napkin Collection – an archive of her napkin collection