SARA ROSEN
About Sara and her Artwork
Sara is an American mixed media artist. Her artwork is a colorful, and sometimes chaotic, combination of acrylic painting, zentangle ink work, and collage. Incorporated into her collage work are found materials (old newspapers, office memos, receipts, blue prints, maps, etc.) which epitomize a particular place or person.
Sara developed her distinct style while living in Mae Sot, a small town on the Thailand-Myanmar border. She spent 3 1/2 years working in Mae La refugee camp where she trained young adults to become teachers. She then took over a small organization -Kick-Start ART- whose mission was to bring art therapy to underfunded migrant schools on both sides of the border. At Kick-Start ART she designed innovative art lessons, trained artists to become art teachers, created income generation opportunities for local artists, managed an art studio/exhibition space, and hosted community events. She had the opportunity to collaborate with talented artists from Myanmar and abroad whose styles still inspire her work. Sara was also deeply impressed by the art created by her youngest students and would often make companion pieces to their work; so if you see that Sara has incorporated an elephant into a piece, its because a nine year old told her to do so.
Sara continued to develop and refine her style when she moved to northern Cambodia. In Cambodia, she worked for an NGO -Cambodian Children’s Trust (CCT)- where she coordinated community centers for disadvantaged families. At CCT, she helped provide families access to essential services and developed myriad youth programs which included art therapy.
She has recently moved back to the city where she was born and now lives in Washington D.C. with her husband and two street dogs.
To better understand how Sara’s unique style began, you have to know the story of the Karaoke Rooster…
The Karaoke Rooster
The Karaoke Rooster was a lyrical bird who had dreams of becoming a chart-topping musical sensation. Hoping to qualify for “Thailand’s Got Talent,” the hardworking fowl would spend long evenings practicing soulful renditions of pop songs only to wake every morning at 4am and begin practicing again. His dedication to his craft was unparalleled.
Meanwhile, his neighbor, Sara, couldn’t sleep…for some reason. Night after night, the Karaoke Rooster crowed and night after night Sara lay awake, no doubt grateful for the melodic stylings of her feathered neighbor. It was during one of these sleepless nights when Sara had an idea: she would create a portrait of The Karaoke Rooster in his natural habitat made of materials from his natural habitat. She collected newspapers, blue prints, and receipts from the neighborhood’s most iconic places and created her first mixed media collage. The Karaoke Rooster was not surprised that he had so inspired his neighbor and vowed to spend the rest of his life singing into the night, inspiring the world.
Sara doesn’t know if he ever made it in the music biz, but she owes her particular artistic style to The Karaoke Rooster. She should probably send him a fruit basket or something.
