Aureole Series Collage

Sara Burgess has worked with paper, printing and books arts for over 20 years. She has taught and exhibited in North America and Europe and enjoys sharing her knowledge and love of paper art. Sara studied printmaking in Canada where she earned her BA and then studied Illustration in San Francisco obtaining her MFA. Paper is my primary medium. Simultaneously strong and vulnerable as a material, I cut, fold, weave and print with it to express my ideas. PROCESS I find that something intriguing and original happens when I cut into paper to create forms and images, treating the negative space as an element of the overall language. To me, the simple relationship between positive and negative forms expresses my vision and thinking. INSPIRATION I grew up in Wales, where the country lanes were lined with brilliant green nettles, fiddlehead ferns, and endless brambles populated with snails. When I moved to Vancouver Island, that world was smooth rocks, more ferns, and trilliums. Moving again to Marin County, near San Francisco, Queen Anne’s lace, variegated echium, and golden California poppies surrounded the winding trails. The smallest details in each place made the memories that shape the images I cut. Detail and materials hold great importance in both the objects and experiences I surround myself with and the work I produce.