ARTIST STATEMENT
During the first summer of the pandemic, I took refuge in painting outdoors. It was the only way to spend time with a few friends in a way that felt safe. Being outdoors was also a relief from the closed in state of the shutdown. I chose to use matboard castoffs from window mats (provided by a framer friend who hates to see materials go to waste). The sueded matboard provided an unusual surface to play with in the context of plein air.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born and raised in Iowa, Sara Peak’s creativity was mostly expressed through sewing until college at University of Iowa when she began to paint. Her early painting and photography were often personal: family history through direct observation. Later, her media focus shifted to video, working as a wedding videographer and editor. After the death of her father in 2005, Convery revisited the college artwork stashed in her parents’ attic and decided to return to painting. The sources of inspiration for the paintings shifted to photography, both her own and found images. Completed in 2013, “I Never Said I Wasn’t Happy”, a documentary about her parents’ marriage, brought together 25 years of interviews, artwork and archival material. In 2014, Convery decided to pursue showing her artwork publicly. Her first successes were in small cooperative galleries in northwest Indiana. The 2016 election debacle triggered a shift in her work to political concerns. She began reconstructing US flags to show the distressed state of the country. Diagnosed with cancer in early 2017, Convery created a continuing series of works in a variety of media relating her personal cancer experience. Convery moved her studio into a storefront art space in 2018 and established Slacks Window Gallery in 2019. The pandemic, beginning in 2020, caused a shift in Convery’s work to using primarily recycled materials and collaborating remotely with artist friends on unfinished or damaged works. She maintains an active art practice, both inspired and horrified by current events.
© Sara Peak Convery