“In October 2020, Sara Maher spent four weeks on lunawanna-alonnah (Bruny Island) as the recipient of the Bruny20 Arts Fellowship residency. She spent her time there making, thinking, writing and drawing, navigating histories and places to which she feels she belongs and does not belong. lunawanna-alonnah country has been the home of the nuenonne people for millennia.
The Bruny20 residency gave Maher four weeks to navigate what this might mean as an artist of Irish-European heritage, how to respond as a temporary resident on land marked by violence and mourning, how to connect to place beyond the constraints of European ways of knowing, and how to hold this experience lightly but firmly, turning it over in her hands.” – Eliza Burke
Sara Maher grew up on Guringai land in Sydney. After studying Fine Art at the National Art School, she moved to nipaluna/Hobart in her early twenties to study Fine Art at the University of Tasmania. Over the intervening years she has maintained a professional arts practice.
Since completing studies, arts residencies, including Dombrovskis Parks and Wildlife Residencies at Maria Island, leeawulena/Lake St Clair and warloundigerler/Cradle Mountain have significantly shaped her sense of place. Most recently, Sara was recipient of the Bruny20 Arts Fellowship residency on lunawanna-alonnah/Bruny Island, a national award supporting artists to develop and present new work exploring identity and environment.
Other funded opportunities that have fostered the development of her work include representation in contemporary arts festivals across the state and on the mainland, and participation in Shotgun10, an awarded opportunity – sponsored by CAT, Detached and MONA – which supports Tasmanian artists to produce and exhibit new work.
Selected exhibitions over recent years include: In (and out of) the Grey (Bett Gallery, Hobart 2021); Biennale Of Australian Art (Ballarat, 2018); Hutchins Australian Contemporary Art Prize (Hobart, 2018) – highly commended; Bay of Fires Art Prize (St Helens, 2018); Sydney Contemporary (2017); Arts in Parks (Lake St Clair, 2017); Of the Halflight (Bett Gallery, Hobart, 2016); Biophilia (Beaver Galleries, Canberra, 2014); Tidal (Devonport, 2014); Burnie Print Prize (2014); and The Unconformity Festival (Queenstown, 2014).
Sara is presently working toward two curated exhibitions in Tasmania: Un/Touched Wilderness (Devonport Regional Gallery, Aug 2021), and Water[shed] (Bett Gallery, Hobart, Jan 2022). Her works are held in private collections, nationally and abroad. She is represented by Bett Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania.
Sarah Maher, In (And Out Of) The Grey
Saturday 24 July, 1pm, Bett Gallery
