Hungry Ghost by Justine Sawyer

In an eleven-year career that spans guerilla street art and academic settings, Justine Sawyer has constantly deepened the roots of her work. In physical terms, her technique centers around drawing and print media. Frequent experimentation in acrylics and watercolors has honed her unorthodox understanding of color symbolism. The multifaceted, hard-working ideas throughout her portfolio can be attributed to a background in collaged form and expressionistic art. More recently her work has developed towards performance related pieces.

Combining found images with otherworldly elements, she renders memories tangible while her radical acts of imagination destabilize the physical world. With frequent reference to the images and stories that haunt her personal history, she interrogates the concept of belonging and acceptance within cultural groups. Every easy answer is overturned. For her a frequent theme – and mode of resistance – involves the fragility of these absurd flesh-based bodies that attempt to define us.

Opening reception is Friday February 1st, 7-10pm