Curated by Phillip McClure
featuring Sara Hess & Sara Malpass
“Last summer, Sara Hess sent me a photo of the chicken wire fence that lines her garden in Athens, GA. She had woven wisteria in and out of the metal squares, twisting the vine to form a large, swooping capital “L” before curling the line skyward to create the next shape, an “I.” In Sara’s hands, the vine twisted into a meaningful shape. Hess mentioned in her note that she’d been thinking about Sara Malpass’s list when drawing the wisteria through the fence’s grid.
Throughout her nearly 30 years at NIAD Art Center in Richmond, CA, Sara Malpass spent entire days culling words from her current readings and interests. Lists spilled down her page, one word bridging to the next as Malpass took inventory of the letters, syllables, and shapes–piles of seemingly disparate ideas. In one list,
Walls
Wedge
Whose
When
emerge as an exercise in alliteration or, perhaps, an interest in the undulating curve of a “W.” Like Hess’s vine, Malpass’s distinctive script transcends its traditional utility. These are marks on a page: tools for both drawing and dictation.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS & CURATOR
Sara Hess (b. 1996) is an artist and teacher in Athens, GA. She is a studio art instructor at Lamar Dodd School of Art and co-founder of Two Parts Press, an Athens-based printmaking studio and artist collaboration. Her interdisciplinary studio practice utilizes painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, woodworking, glassmaking, and installation. Through her work and relationship to images, materials, and people, she endeavors to listen deeply. Sara earned an MFA from The Ohio State University, where she was awarded a University Fellowship, and a BFA from the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art. She has exhibited work regionally and nationally at Urban Arts Space in Columbus OH, Blue Boy in Savannah GA, Stove Works in Chattanooga TN, Erie Art Museum in Erie PA, and Print Center New York. Previous residencies include In Cahoots in Petaluma CA, Chautauqua Visual Arts in Chautauqua NY, and Officina Stamperia del Notaio in Tusa, Sicily.
Sara Malpass (b. 1967) lives and works in Richmond, CA. Her works, particularly the daily lists on notebook paper, isolate an exploration of written language in visual art that is uncommon in mainstream contemporary artists but prominent in the works of so-called outsiders. Her reductive, pragmatic language most often culls words from her current reading material or immediate interests, her piles of lists culminating as a living personal archive central to her prolific creative practice.
Blue Boy (c. 2024) is a contemporary art space in Savannah, GA committed to exhibiting evolving art practices in the Southeast and beyond. Alongside regular exhibitions, Blue Boy screens movies, hosts lectures, and holds other community-driven events. Blue Boy was founded in 2024 by curator Phillip McClure.