Power. Print. Perception.
Sarah Sipling’s work focuses on ideas of protest, power, and perception. She creates large, colorful mixed media pieces that express a sense of hope and a call for change within the political and social realms. By incorporating various forms of printmaking to build physically layered works, Sipling suggests how governmental shifts affect collective well-being. Each layer references a current or historical protest, the political and often brutal police responses, and the many facets of necessary societal transformation. Her collage method reflects a fragmented and partisan society, fueled by widespread feelings of fear and exclusion. For Sipling, these visual interventions symbolize the process of assembling truth and rejecting misinformation or “fake news.”
Sipling’s signature silkscreen “veins” of color bind each layer of her work together. She views these veins as symbols of life’s pulse—embodying both the force of power and the necessity of resistance. The veins also represent the interconnectedness of the world: the global circulation that spread a pandemic to every corner of the earth and the digital networks that rapidly shared footage of George Floyd’s murder, sparking worldwide protest.
Currently, Sipling is exploring the role of individuals in shaping government and society. She investigates how protests—past and present—serve as essential tools for speaking out and demanding reform. The constant presence of movements such as Black Lives Matter, climate activism, women’s rights, and immigrant rights forms the layered foundation of her prints.
Sipling also references the landscape in her work, exposing the darker histories embedded within the physical beauty and ideals of a nation. As she critiques ongoing destructive political narratives, she continues to seek the potential for protest and the promise of meaningful change.
About the Artist
Sarah Sipling received her MFA in Printmaking from Rhode Island School of Design and BFA from SUNY Purchase College. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including Gate FortyFour Gallery (Milan, Italy); Foundry Art Center (St. Charles, MO); COS Gallery (Visalia, CA); Brick Red Gallery (New Orleans, LA); Janet Turner Print Museum (Chico, CA); Reece Museum (Johnson City, TN); East Hawaii Cultural Center (Hilo, HI); and Augusta Savage Gallery (Amherst, MA).
A recipient of the Mozaik Philanthropy Future Art Award, a Puffin Foundation grant, and a Black Box Press Art as Activism grant, Sipling was also selected for the 2020-2022 Arquetopia Foundation Honors Residency. Her work is held in public collections including the Zuckerman Museum of Art, Shanghaf Collection, Penang State Museum, Bradbury Art Museum, Haugesund Museum of Fine Art, China Printmaking Museum, and Museu Casada Xilogravura. Sipling lives and works in New York and Kansas City.