Sara Mast

"You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself."

Alan Watts

I like the idea of being an aperture for something larger than myself. My painting has always been about perception, with an emphasis on integrating the vision of my inner eye with what I perceive in the outer world. In 2006, following a move to the foothills of the Bridger Mountains, the horizon line that oriented me to my place on the plains of eastern Montana gave way to the bowl of sky above me, and my perception shifted. Watching the stars arc across the night sky re-organized my experience of time and space. What was once linear became cyclical. I translated this into a new body of work based on a satellite view of the planet (thank you, Google Earth), incorporating star charts and numerical equations that mapped my new experience. These paintings led me to ponder new revelations in science, from neurobiology to astrophysics, using everything from current NASA satellite data to microscopic views of neuronal dendrites as imagery. 

 Spinning

My recent body of work focuses on personal narrative, using painting imagery based on my father's (Gifford Morrison Mast, 1914-1972) scientific drawings, writings and US patent images from his hundreds of inventions. These paintings were part of Soundings, a multimedia, collaborative exhibition that included one fourth-generation and four third-generation familial 'creatives' in art and science who never knew their grandfather except through stories. Our collaboration explored the definitions of who we are by the stories that we tell and the memories that we keep, through an exhibition that incorporated sound, video, painting, installation and biofeedback technology. 

 

Dialogue 2,545,515     

 

Dialogue 2,630,642

A recent art/science collaborative project, Black (W)hole, has been selected for inclusion in an upcoming exhibition-in-print entitled Encaustic Works 2014, curated by artist Michelle Stuart and sponsored by R & F Handmade Paints, Kingston, NY. (To view images, go to www.saramast.com & www.celebratingeinstein.org.)

 

Black (W)hole

Encaustic is my chosen painting medium because my work depends upon my ability to build layers of information in a luminous, almost filmic materiality. In my YUMA demonstration, I will focus on encaustic basics, demonstrating image development, use of line and texture, use of transfers, incising, collage, mixed media and monoprint processes. I will also give a brief introduction to equipment, tools, and safety considerations as well as touch upon both historical and contemporary uses of encaustic.

--Sara Mast

 2014 Yuma Art Symposium Presenter

 www.saramast.com