Sal Strom

I’ve made art for as long as I can remember. Mom was the owner of the Sea Hag, where she bartended until three in the morning. I sat at the booth in the back of the bar collecting daily treasures. I learned how to make clothes for my dolls using printed flour sacks and colorful fabric samples from the post office garbage. I would staple, pin and glue.

My work process hasn’t changed much except for using better quality materials. I exchanged glue for acrylic mediums. I use acrylic mediums on photographs and pull the paper off to create transparent images.
My fabrics are cheesecloth, silk and lace. I use acrylic paint as a dye.
Color is an important component; I believe in its healing effect.

These lightweight materials are of sheer durability. The materials allow the spirit of life to gracefully flow through. I work intuitively while having an ongoing dialogue with the work.

The meaning of my Norwegian surname, Strom, means “current”, which is a metaphor for my life. I want to be the fish flowing down stream, going wherever the current takes me. A zest for freedom is core to my life and work.

A waitress taught me how to draw the figure. For decades I painted dancers. To capture movement in time, I needed to use pho...

MFA - Massachusetts College of Art - Boston, MA (2008)
BA - Excelsior College - Albany, NY (Humanities) (2002)
NW Film Center Film Center- 2006-2009
Studio Art Center International - Florence, Italy
Dartington College of Art - Totnes, England

I have had exhibitions at the Frye Museum in Seattle, Provincetown Museum of Art in MA, Maryhill Museum of Art, WA, Lincoln City Cultural Center, OR, Newport Visual Art Center, OR & in galleries In the US, Canada, and Europe.