Sara MacCulloch, Beach Rocks and Sand, 2013
Purchased with funds provided by Fred Fountain, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2014
“The challenge for me is always to capture what a place looks like and feels like but also to have a relationship with the painting as I am making it. To be open to what may happen in the studio. I don’t start with an exact idea of what the painting will be when I am finished. All I know is what I want it to feel like- and I never really know how that will come about.
I almost always do my paintings in one go- one session in the studio. This is to allow for clarity in purpose, but also to give the work a sense of immediacy. I want the paintings to be direct and fluid. There is a fine line between overworked, unfinished, and resolved paintings, and I am always trying to find that balance.
I waste a lot of paint, and have many frustrating days where I scrape off a whole day’s work onto the floor, only to start over the next day. But in each attempt, I become clearer about what I am painting, so that in the end, the work is more concise. I want the paint to be allowed to be paint. Sometimes there are drips or imperfections, but I leave them because sometimes it is those ‘mistakes’ that anchor the work for me.” – S.M.
Sara MacCulloch holds a BFA from NSCAD University and also studied painting at Concordia University in Montreal. Her work has been shown at galleries across the region and country, and is held in the collections of the Canada Council Art Bank, Bank of Montreal, and Department of Foreign Affairs, Embassy Division, among others.
The Nova Scotia Spotlight series highlights recent acquisitions to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia’s Permanent Collection by artists contributing to the province’s cultural heritage. With support from Michelin North America (Canada) Inc. in Memory of Robert W. M. Manuge.
