About Me
Biography:
Sahara Harrington was born in the colorful and culture-rich town of Jogjakarta, in the south central region of Indonesia. Her father, who came to Indonesia from the US in the early seventies, possesses great skill and talent in the fine arts. Her mother, a native of Jogjakarta, performed avidly in the local music, dance, and theater circuit since a very young age. Art surrounded Sahara and her five siblings in many forms as they were growing up.
Barely older then a toddler, Sahara herself began to train in the art of Balinese dance, a cultural dance native to the paradise island of Bali. Bali is best known today for its beautiful beaches and perfect surf. The dance itself, however, is a mystical art form that has mesmerized and inspired painters, sculptor, poets, and musicians both local and from far and wide for many centuries.
Sahara followed the footsteps of many great artists of past generations and found her inspiration in the Balinese dance and its performers. she watched them come to life on her canvas as the music of the gamelan wove itself into the strokes of her brush.
At 16, she came to the States to experience life as an American teenager. There she explored and experimented the different art forms. She tried music and theater and studied different styles of western dance, while still maintaining her skill of the eastern dance. Of all the arts, she pursued the most in depth her relationship with the canvas. Sahara received her first formal training from the unconditionally devoted Marilyn Guerinot. Guerinot at once realized Sahara's potential and nurtured her talent by educating her in the theories and fundamentals of painting and drawing. Under the guidance of Guerinot, Sahara entered and won various state and nation wide art competitions and was offered her first commission piece at the age of 16.
Sahara went to pursue and complete her BFA at the Maryland Institute, College of Arts in Baltimore, Maryland where she was awarded various Merit based scholarships. While attending university she participated in several group exhibits and continued to accept new commissions. As her technique matured, native cultural influence became the dominant subject in her work. Familiar patterns and earth tones of Indonesian batik combined with transfixed, loud and exaggerated poses of women figures immersed in a silent void.
Currently Sahara is working on her next series titled "Screaming Silence", interpreting the concept of opposing natures such as: dominance and subservience, pride and humility, and strength and weakness.
Artist Statement:
When a painting is complete, not only am i physicaly exhausted but mentaly drained as well. Consumed as I may feel, nothing compares to the sporadic surge of pleasures i receive everytime a stroke of paint achieves the effect I desire. When it is attained, I am none happier. As Brett Whitely said "difficult pleasure".
Raised in Indonesia I was fascinated and inspired by the richness of its culture in its various art forms. Balinese dance, Batik patterns, and the traditional javanese clothing are fundemental elements and influence of my work. I am also interested in playing with and portraying the submissive nature of most traditional Indonesian women.
I work mostly with oils on canvas and linen, using the effect of continuous layering to give my paintings an illusion of depth. I am using gold leaf in my most recent work bringing unique patterns to life, inviting a contemporary element into them. The focal point of my compositions has often been exposed flesh of women figures accentuated by the use of light and shadow.
Up until the late 1960s, women in Bali dressed only from below the breasts down. They wore exquisite batik textiles held up with a stagen, (long piece of thin cloth that is wrapped very tightly around the waist, designed to hold up the material underneath).They appeared so elegant and beautiful it's no wonder artists such as Willem Hofker used these women as subjects in hundreds of his work. I too am intrigued by their way of dress, and portray this in many of my paintings. It creates a certain sensual mystery because so many viewers are unfamiliar with the history of the fashion.
I'm continuously stimulated by artists such as Carravagio with his use of light, Rembrandt and Rubens for the way they portrayed flesh, Jan van Eyck and Velazquez for their extreme attention to detail and so many more. The collection of Gustav Klimt and Egon Shiele continue to challenge the comfort ability in my style of painting and motivates me to explore different avenues such as abstract. Other artists that have taught and influenced me personally are Marilyn Guerinot and Kartika Affandi. Both contributed an element of looseness in my work and encouraged me to not be afraid of the canvas.
"I don't like to say I have given my life to art, I prefer to say art has given me my life" -Arman
