ARTIST STATEMENT
In December 2022, I returned to oil paint. I realized I had not used this medium for several years despite my previous preference for it. I was hesitant about starting a fresh canvas. I had not made a self portrait in several years either. I decided it was time to face the aging and somewhat changed face in the mirror. “Leftie and Righty” is a double self portrait. It is named as such because I realized in the process of painting that I was using my left hand to paint the left figure. This surprised me because I am right handed. In late summer 2021 I broke my right wrist and spent several weeks occupying my time by attempting to write, draw and paint with my left hand. Now I am pretty much back to normal with my right hand but realized I had gained something in my left.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Sara Peak Convery is a Chicago based visual artist and documentary filmmaker who enjoys collaborations and organizing exhibitions. Sara Peak completed her BFA with Honors at the University of Iowa and her MFA at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She also studied at Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University and the Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts. Her award winning documentary “I Never Said I Wasn’t Happy” (2013) screened at several U.S. film festivals including international exposure in Denmark and Indonesia.
Since 2014 when she decided to actively pursue exhibition opportunities for her visual art, she has exhibited widely in the greater Chicagoland/Northwest Indiana region. Garnering Best of Show awards from Beverly Art Center (Chicago) and South Shore Arts Salon (Munster, IN), Convery continued to curate exhibitions at Perkolator coffee house (Portage Park, Chicago) and her local Austin Irving branch library. She also worked with South Lake Artist Co op (a loose group of Indiana artists) and David Mueller, proprietor of Paul Henry’s Art Gallery(Hammond, IN). She established Slacks Window Gallery (Gladstone Park, Chicago) in her studio storefront windows in 2019 and hosted no contact exhibitions throughout the pandemic period. Early in the pandemic she began creating pandemic prayer flags using retired flags from the Peace Plaza in Rockford. In 2022 she expanded her work into outdoor public art in conjunction with Side Street Studio Arts in Elgin. “RIFT”, an oversize (99″ x 162″) quilt-like, handsewn banner was installed on an exterior brick wall for a year.
© Sara Peak Convery