Synthesizing Information: Sarah Atlee

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Author: Cierra Linander (OVAC Intern)

Sarah Atlee, Dusted,Jacketed, 2011, Acrylicon wood, 29x17”

Oklahoma City artist Sarah Atlee paints primarily with acrylics. Sheenjoys their versatility, the textures they create, and the endless options of implementation,be it via a wash, a glaze, or impasto application. Utilizing the quick-dryingadvantage of acrylic, Atlee layers infinite colors and textures to create herworks.

Atlee’s piece for the Concept/OK exhibition, Dusted, Jacketed, employs layers of “personal memories, imagery pulledfrom magazine pictures, found paper and fabric,” and of course acrylic paint,on a wood panel. The abstract work features deep blues, greens and redshighlighted with whites, yellows, and pinks. The piece was inspired from a“conversational seed” while Atlee was living in Indiana some years ago. In2002, the IU Art Museum hosted a retrospective of Bill Blass, an illustriousfashion designer from the mid-20^th century. The piece that inspiredthe conversation was a jacket composed  of silk flowers. According to Atlee, she andher friends deliberated, what would the jacket look like “if someone allowed itto get all dusty? Would it become a dust jacket?”
Atlee considers herself to be “a complex and biased filter ofinformation.” Absorbing “words, sounds, images, and experiences from everything[she] comes into contact with,” Atlee processes what is relevant and discardswhat is not. What remains is a combination of instances that fascinate her,which make “intuitive, unexpected connections.” By combining this “variety ofsource imagery and found materials,” Atlee arranges them into collages, and synthesizesthis collection of visual information into her paintings.
The Concept/OK: Art in Oklahoma exhibition welcomes to the public through February 16, 2013  at the new Tulsa Arts and Humanities Council’s Hardesty Arts Center. Admission is free of charge. See www.concept-ok.org for more information.