In her paintings and drawings artist Sarah Nordean uses the obsessive repetition of small gestures as a way to consider the rhythms of time, labour, and place. Small marks accumulate over time into larger organic masses. Her aim is to generate a tension between the meticulousness of her mark making and the amorphous shapes that form. “I attempt to echo the relentless nature of everyday life as a way to showcase simplicity, to highlight small differences, and to acknowledge the inevitable complexities.”
Sarah is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Alberta University of the Arts (2009), and a Master of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University (2014). She teaches drawing and painting at the Alberta University of the Arts.
Exhibitions and Projects
Solo and two-person:
2023
Peripheral Vision, VIVIANEART, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2021
Tyler Bright Hilton and Sarah Nordean, VIVIANEART, hosted by Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Strange Magnetism, Tilted Brick Gallery, Creston, BC, Canada (with Heather Close)
2020
I Can’t Live Without You, VIVIANEART, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2018
Hardly Soft, Fountain Studio Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada (with Karin McGinn)
2016
Water Witching for Wanderers (and Wonderers), The City of Calgary Public Art Program, community walking project (with Alana Bartol)
2015
Keeping track, Lightbox Studio, Arts Commons, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Rattling the Walls, Marion Nicoll Gallery, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, Alberta, Canada (with Neal Moignard)
2013
The Islands, Untitled Art Society - Satellite Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Select Group:
2020
Abstraction to the Power of Four, Art Toronto with VIVIANEART (hybrid model), Calgary, Alberta Canada
2018
White Rabbit Arts Festival, Red Clay Art Farm, Upper Economy, Nova Scotia
Abstract Group Show, Edge Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
Let's Stay in Touch! Truck Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2017
Vancouver Art Book Fair, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2016
Tradition Transformed: Carmichael Canadian Landscape Exhibition, Orillia Museum of Art and History, Orillia, Ontario, Canada
2015
Jet Set, West 7 Studios, Vancouver, BC, Canada
ACAD Fibre Miniature Show, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Could it Be, We've Surpassed Material Expectations, Stride Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2014
Mapmakers Manifesto, Istanbul Design Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey
Transactants: agents of process, Charles H. Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Calgary Timeraiser, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2013
Alterations, Alteractions, Altercations, Concourse Gallery, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2011
Bizarre Pizzazz Bazaar, Stride Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Moments Intercepted, the (Re)collection Project, Labspace Studios, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2010
Square Foot Show, AWOL Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2009
Frenzy, Bird Dog Video, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Represented by: VIVIANEART Gallery