ARTIST STATEMENT
My work uses surreal, feminine imagery to examine the subtle forms of power, control, and resistance embedded in everyday life. In “Time the Avenger”, the phrase “please remain quiet” becomes a symbolic constraint reflected across my face, representing the societal expectations placed on women to remain small, contained & agreeable. Through distorted realism and layered symbolism, the work explores the pressures that shape women’s identity, autonomy, and the acts of subversion we practice to endure them.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Sarah Chavez is a painter based in Wichita, Kansas, whose work blends surrealism, symbolism, and richly constructed narratives that explore the body, food, memory, and psychological tension. She studied Studio Arts and Art History at Kansas State University and has continued to develop a distinct visual language rooted in vivid color, emotional complexity, and softly uncanny realism.
Chavez’s work has been shown in regional exhibitions, most notably the traveling Seven States Biennial and her first solo exhibition, Cosmic Bloom, which opened in 2025 at the Andover Public Library. She has received several awards and honors for her work, including First Place in the Water Works Juried Exhibition and the People’s Choice Award in the Twelve Squared Exhibition.
Her paintings have been featured in publications such as Arts to Hearts Magazine and The Shout. In 2025, Chavez was invited to speak as a panelist for Shaping Vision: Five Wichita Painters on Process and Practice at the Wichita Art Museum.
© Sarah Chavez