Sarah Hewer, Artist

“I acknowledge that the land on which I live and create is Wadandi Boodja, saltwater country. I pay my respects to Wadandi traditional custodians and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, their Elders, past, present and emerging.” 

Sarah Hewer

About

Intuitive and sensory, artist Sarah Hewer is best known for the vulnerability that binds her
practice. In haunting beauty she traverses the complexities of mapping self, memory and
perception. Her work is a mirror for tensions between light, dark and shadows that exist within.

Sarah’s ongoing photographic series Found explores these dualities by turning her lens on the natural world; beauty and imperfection, strength and fragility, growth and decay. Traditions of botanical preservation of perfection are upended as she suspends decaying and fragile specimens with beauty, grace and femininity. In riveting detail and luminosity, they stand strong and ethereal. The most recent additions to the series were found traipsing the edges of fire scarred forest, bright new growth emerging on a backdrop of bare, darkened limbs and debris.

Sarah has lived on Wadandi Boodja, the Margaret River region for almost a decade. Her artistic practice bridges drawing, photography, mixed media and more recently, printmaking. Her work is underpinned by technique and an inquisitive sensibility garnered from over two decades in the visual arts around the world. First as an editor of award-winning UK and North American documentaries and later as a photographer. Specialising in portraiture, food and travel she continues to photograph for hospitality, food, wine and agriculture businesses and the likes of National Geographic Traveller, Delicious, Qantas, Halliday and The Weekend Australian Magazine.

Work

Found (2021-present) Sarah’s ongoing photographic series Found explores dualities of self by turning her lens on the natural world; beauty and imperfection, strength and fragility, growth and decay. Traditions of botanical preservation of perfection are upended as she suspends decaying and fragile specimens with beauty, grace and femininity. In riveting detail and luminosity, they stand strong and ethereal. Sarah’s most recent additions to the series were found traipsing the edges of fire scarred forest, bright new growth emerging on a backdrop of bare, darkened limbs and debris.

Resonant (2022-present) Raw and intuitive in it's mark-making, Resonant  traces a spellbinding warren of identity, memory and feeling. Light, dark and shadow entwined, a reverberant entanglement of past, present and future.  In their layers, each work is a mirror of the time that passes in it's creation. A self navigated maze of thought, feeling and memory, Sarah describes the process as, 'tracing the beats in my mind ... being curious about the gritty and the good'. The body of work includes nib and ink drawings, drypoint etching and mixed media pigment prints formed from an amalgam of performative, flame-fuelled and digital drawing and photography.

Exhibitions, Events and Awards

2022

Found exhibition at Voyager Estate, Feature Artist - Summer 22/23

 Voyager Estate  41 Stevens Rd, Margaret River, Western Australia

An evening with feature artist Sarah Hewer, Voyager Estate, Margaret River

Resonant exhibition and artist studio residency, Dormilona, Margaret River Open Studios

2021

Found #3, Finalist, Busselton Art Awards

Found exhibition and artist studio residency, Dormilona, Margaret River Open Studios

Collections

Sarah's work is held in private collections in Australia and the UK.