SARAH NOLAN

It has recently been said that Sarah Nolan is a ‘scrounger’, but this descriptor is doubly appropriate because not only is this evident in the physical material she uses to construct her works but also in the material, as ideas, she refers to when sourcing form. This is a highly selective scrounging, so rather than understanding her work as a collage of found objects, it is perhaps better to say Sarah finds potential in these materials. In the process of blending reference and material her body of work can be seen to exceed both.

Sarah finds fabrics from a variety of sources, op shops, sample books, clothes, tea towels and lengths of fabrics gifted or inherited from friends and relatives. As a consequence the compositions take on meanings and become representative of memories and personal thoughts. The richness and detail of these compositions are enhanced by literally hand stitching metres of silk, cotton and polyester threads. Some of the stitching is discreet and functional in holding the layers together, others playful and illustrative contributing to the overall composition. Text and statements also play an important role in her works. The meticulous nature of these additions a result of her patient and precise cutting skills where her past experience as a graphic designer comes to the fore, when the scalpel was the tool of trade rather than a computer mouse.

Her next body of work will continue to explore all these current qualities as well as the use of beading, and the technique of using the needle and thread as a drawing tool for creating a cross hatching effect.