StateMent

I’ve always held a holistic yet skeptical perspective on society. Many of my pieces began with religious implications; however, these implications tend to be critical. I express my outtake on religion (Catholicism and Christianity) through an “outside-looking-in” perspective. Before I create a piece, I analyze the motifs and techniques in Italian Renaissance paintings and use that information to create a work contradictory to said sentiments. I will often criticize typical conventions of power to express my outlook on society. My work reflects how sociological institutions (Family, Religion, Political, Educational, and State) impact the individual’s psyche.

I am interested in how light is reflected and absorbed and how shapes of color harmonize to create form by sharing the same space. Yet, I am not intent on these subjects individually, but in the way color, light, and form can blend to convey human emotion. Paranoia, fear, existentialism, solitude- I express these tribulations in my work through these relationships.

As a figurative painter, every painting is a new experience. I lose myself in the process and never agonize over the outcome, focusing on the feeling until the final moment of clarity. I consider painting like sculpting. I chisel out large shapes first, smoothening the form and adding detail as the portrait becomes more refined, leaving the minute for last. 

ARTIST BIO

Sarah Lorito was born in Manhattan, New York, in 2002. She moved away from the city to a small town in Bergen County, New Jersey, only a few years after her birth. Having grown up in a quiet neighborhood, Sarah felt disconnected from society throughout her adolescence. She found herself more connected with nature and films than her peers. Sarah was fascinated by the worlds created through timeless cinema. When she was a child, they were merely a form of entertainment, but as she grew older, she became entranced by the ardor of the actors and captivating cinematography. Sarah looked to capture emotion in the same way films had and communicate the sensation she felt with her views. Painting became a way to express the thoughts she could not express in words. Coming from a non-religious household while also surrounded by a heavily Christian and Catholic community, she created works covering her perspective on Catholicism. Sarah studied Italian Renaissance painters and was influenced by their work, even incorporating certain elements and techniques while adhering to her views on Religious Institutions. 

Sarah found herself not only questioning Religious Institutions but investigating more extensive subjects of society. Her work emphasizes the psychological impacts of sociological institutions on the individual. Family, Political, Educational, and State Institutions are the pillars she will analyze and reconstruct in her paintings. Her work is despondent towards the set of social norms that only appear to be organized around preserving a primary “societal value” and instead dismantle the individual’s autonomy. The effects of these Institutions on the individual, which encompasses existentialism, conformity, fear, and mental illness, are core themes in Sarah’s work. 

Sarah has studied under artists Joseph Todorovitch, Glenn Vilppu, Iliya Mirochnik, Dennis Perrin, and Daniel Keys. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Sarah uses her social media platforms to showcase her process and build a community of young artists who would like to pursue art as a career.

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