Sara Hagale

Source: https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2021/08/interview-sara-hagale/

Walking

Her body of work is broad and idiosyncratic, spanning fanciful bouquets of leggy flowers to smudged self-portraits to quirky characters struggling through life, and it offers an array of emotional and aesthetic nuances that are unique to the artist.

I don’t have to feel goofy all the time in order to still be me. And I’m allowed to draw something that feels right to me in that moment even if it doesn’t match up perfectly with the other work I produce.

Moving Along

Grace: What are your criteria for deciding what elements are necessary and what aren’t? When does a piece feel complete?

Sara: This is a tough question to answer. Sometimes a piece is complete when I have somewhere to go. There have been a few instances when I’ve started a drawing at an inopportune time, and I have to sort of wrap it up so I can go to dinner. I have to remind myself of the mentality I had starting out—that not everything I draw or post on Instagram has to be It, The Thing, something I’d make a print of, etc.

As far as how I decide what elements are necessary and which aren’t, it’s kind of just a gut thing. I used to hate hearing my professors or really anyone say that because I didn’t know what that meant or felt like. I think by drawing so consistently in the beginning and getting in a rhythm and having a process, I gained some confidence, and one day I just knew what felt right and what felt not right.

Grace: I’d love to know more about the relationship between your more whimsical works and those that are earnest or somber like you said.

Sara: I think the relationship is that they’re both still valid expressions. Like, I don’t have to feel goofy all the time in order to still be me. And I’m allowed to draw something that feels right to me in that moment even if it doesn’t match up perfectly with the other work I produce. I like this mindset, not feeling like you need to fit into a certain style or way of working. I use art as personal experssion like Sara does and your mood and experiences change so much and so your work does too. Different works mean differnt things and are made for different reasons. One day you can create a piece just for fun and another you might create work to help you experess a certain emotion you are feeling such as, sadness or anger.

Left: Untitled, Right: Regarding my pea brain

Grace: Beyond your own experiences, where do you draw inspiration from?

Sara: Apart from my experiences, I draw inspiration from my past or nature or how a song makes me feel. I’m not sure if those still count as my own experiences. I tend to stay away from looking at too much visual inspiration because I don’t want to interrupt what’s going on in my own brain. I’ve found it’s debilitating to have too much swirling around up there.

Grace: How does that work in practice? Do you have time limits on social media or experiencing other people’s work? Does it manifest in other ways?

Sara: I don’t follow too many artists on Instagram, and, oddly enough, art rarely makes its way into my Explore section. There was a time, especially in school and when working as a graphic designer, when I was very diligent about exploring a variety of work. This was usually via Pinterest. It can be really inspiring, but sometimes it made me feel like everything had been done, which to an extent is very true, but not the best thing to be thinking about when you’re trying to express yourself.

This is something that relates to the Hear Make Heard project as we weren't given any visuals to bounse ideas off of it was based purely off sound.

Grace: A theme of constraint, whether in terms of limiting outside inspiration or using only what’s necessary, seems to run through your work. Does that feel accurate to you?

Sara: This does feel accurate. Limitations can be really comforting to me but also present a challenge. But it’s like solving a puzzle, which makes the experience all the more satisfying and fulfilling.

I think the most authentic thing is to not think about authenticity at all. I just banish that word from my brain because once you start trying to be “authentic,” it becomes inauthentic and it shows.

I really like the colours sara uses in her pieces and how they contrast the muted background. I think it is interesting how she creates these alien like characters that can be seen interacting with eachother and objects in different ways. Her delicate but precise lines add delacasy to the pieces making them feel fragile. Although most of her pieces are quite comedic they also have somewhat of a somber nature as the characters can be seen looking sad and confused. I really admire how Sara sticks to her guts and creates work that she wants to and not what she has been told to create by her peers and teachers. I think this is what makes her work so special, the uniqueness and her personal style shines through the pieces.

Hear Make Heard Research

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