Epiphanies
Sarah van Ouwerkerk and Elizabeth Swados
La MaMa presents Epiphanies, a collaboration of photographs and poems by Sarah van Ouwerkerk and Elizabeth Swados
"This exhibition was born in the local dog run where Liz and I met. In 2014, we began the project that was based on her poems about the life of an artist; the struggle to make work while teaching, walking the dogs, and generally living life in New York City. Her poems, which were published along with the photographs, were a combination of a real and imagined life that included dreams, travel, yoga, writing, and all the issues that one navigates from day to day. The photographs are intended to be an interpretation of Liz’s spirit." – Sarah van Ouwerkerk
Epiphanies is presented in conjunction with the New York City premiere of The Beautiful Lady, composed by Elizabeth Swados.
Image Credit: The Circle by Sarah van Ouwerkerk
Whether interpreting nature, the figure, or personal histories, Sarah van Ouwerkerk's photographs explore the role of landscape as a way of seeing the world, either imagined or real. Sarah's visual explorations begin with a curiosity and evolve into expansive studies about freedom and one's place in the environment. Her background in painting influences the palette and informs the atmosphere of the images. She lives and works in New York City and upstate New York.
Sarah van Ouwerkerk received her Bachelor's degree in Painting from the University of Wisconsin/Madison, and her MFA from Pratt Institute in New York. The New Museum, Frazier Museum, Whitney Museum,Yale University, CNN television and Dorfman Projects at the Affordable Art Fair are among the venues that have exhibited her works. The photographs have also been published by Rizzoli, Harmony House, and the University of California Press.