"It is my nature to jump back and forth between sometimes disparate projects. I have no more control of that tendency than I do over my breathing and I plan to continue both. An idea or a problem can catch my imagination, nag at my thoughts, tug me in different directions and to different solutions for months or years until I finally get my fill. Obsession is a fertile ground for art and once the fire is quieted, the skills and knowledge remain to inform the next round of making and fixation. The work I do on one project naturally informs my choices on the other projects which are in process at the same time.
The natural world is full of strange wonders and geometries. Natural elements such as plants, landscape and rocks are most often the starting point for my work. Art is about the experience of life; its subject is our thoughts, emotions, and senses. At its best, art points out something new to the viewer such as beauty in an everyday object, symmetry in what seems like chaos, a new perspective on a social issue or anything which deepens our experience and understanding of our lives."
Sarah Fortner Pierson grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and received a Bachelors degree in Art Practice from UC Berkeley. She moved to New York City in 2001 to join Hunter College's Master of Fine Art program. Pierson currently resides in Orange County, New York where she founded the Washingtonville Artist Collective in 2014. She is also an active member of the Goshen Art League and Orange County Arts Council and is the Executive Director of the Wallkill River School, a non-profit art gallery and art school in Montgomery, New York.