Born in 1982 in Sydney, Australia
Resides and works in Shoalhaven Heads, NSW
Biography
Sara Roberts was trained as a painter, having graduated with her MA in Visual Art at Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney. Central to the work of Roberts is her profound understanding of painterly tradition. Drawing on the visual language of Henri Rousseau, Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard, and contemporary artist Peter Doig, Roberts infuses her paintings with a unique blend of nostalgia and whimsy. Roberts's palette of strong, vivid colors, high technical qualities, and a seemingly naive perspective exist within a long tradition of painting. She translates her subject matter into poetic or romantic images, with an open beginning and ending, meant for interpretation by the viewer.
Inspired by her upbringing across Mexico, France, Sweden, and Poland, Roberts grapples with the complexities of belonging and identity in her work. Even in her native Australia, she found herself an outsider, prompting a deep exploration of personal and cultural identity within the context of landscapes. Through her brushstrokes, Roberts delves into the duality of Australian terrain—its sublime beauty juxtaposed with its unforgiving elements.
In each painting, Roberts invites viewers to traverse the real and imagined borderlands. Her process mirrors this fluidity, patiently adding and subtracting layers to her canvases, allowing each piece to evolve organically over time. The result is a collection of artworks that resonate with a sense of nostalgia, yet remain timeless in their ability to capture the essence of foreign landscapes and the depths of the human psyche. Sara Roberts has worked for the Gallery of NSW, Sydney; the MCA in Sydney.
Awards and Recognitions
2023, Winner of the Landscape Prize at Bluethumb Gallery
2021, Kangaroo Valley Art Prize
2016, Selected for the Mosman Art Prize
2016, Selected for the Yen Female Art Prize
Education
2015-2017: MA in Visual Art at Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney, AU
2010-2014: BA of Visual Arts at Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney, AU
Selected exhibitions
2023, Bluethumb Art Gallery, Melbourne, AU
2022, Kangaroo Valley Art Prize, Kangaroo Valley, AU
2022, The Other Art Fair, Sydney, AU
2022, Bluethumb Art Gallery, Adelaide, AU
2021, The Other Art Fair, Sydney, AU
2020, Bluethumb Art Prize Finalist, AU
2019, Flow, Finalist Wollongong Art Prize, AU
2018, The Other Art Fair, Los Angeles, US
2017, The Other Art Fair, Sydney, AU
2017, Rheology, Forms that Flow, Gaffa, Sydney, AU
2017, Masters Graduation Show, Sydney University, Sydney, AU
2016, Mosman Art Prize, Finalist, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney, AU
2016, Retronauts, ANCA gallery, Canberra, AU
2016, Playing with Perspectives, Art Pharmacy/Deloitte, Sydney, AU
2016, inalist Yen Female Art Award, Gaffa Gallery, Sydney, AU
2015, Retroneers, Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Sydney, AU
2015, At First Sight, Camperdown, Sydney, AU
2014, Contemporary's Contemporaries, The Rocks, Sydney, AU
2014, The Lab, Darlinghurst, Sydney, AU
2014, Painters Gallery, Manly, Sydney, AU
2013, Interplay, 107 Projects, Redfern, AU
Collections
Deloitte Sydney,
Private collections in Australia, France, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, the United States of America.