Tara Sasadek

Painter

Looking back on last year, which art events/exhibits stand out in your mind?

Many, many awesome things happened this year in the arts—it’s hard to choose. I enjoyed volunteering at Hallwall’s Rapture/Rupture event because it combined intense installations with music, performance, and revelry. The Echo Art Fair, Buffalo’s first all fine-art fair was an inspiring start to what promises to become a Buffalo art tradition.

I’m the VP of a newer art organization, ELAB, or Emerging Leaders in the Arts Buffalo. There have been many members who had their first solo shows this year, and it was amazing to see many fellow artists achieve incredible growth both technically and philosophically. We would start out with a random conversation at The Eights, and end up with a slew of new shows. I was very touched by Marissa’ Lehner’s installation A Loss of Gravity and the quiet, insistent way it expressed grief and waiting.

What inspires your artwork?

I was recently lucky enough to visit artist and patron Gerald Mead’s private collection, and seeing a large body of work connected to Buffalo’s cultural history has gotten me more involved in the story behind local art as much as appreciation of art aesthetically. Buying art and trading my work for art is increasingly on my mind. I think it is a shame that there is a place to list your favorite television shows on Facebook, but not your favorite artists or works of art. I would like art collecting to be on everyone’s radar, as a normal and accessible activity.

Personally, I have been outside soaking up as much of the summer as possible, and camping in the woods has a profound effect on me. I spent some time in Cook Forest, PA, and took a million pictures of bark and fungi, which have found their way to my studio walls. I follow illustration online religiously and have been inspired by the preview artwork for Habibi, a graphic novel that Craig Thompson is releasing this fall. The work combines figurative drawing and ornate scrollwork, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.

Which art events/exhibits are you looking forward to this year?

Buffalo Arts Studio will be having their 20th anniversary show in October: Evolution | Revolution. As an emerging artist, seeing the path of growth for such a huge group of established artists is a huge resource. The Art in Craft Media show at the Burchfield is going to be another highlight. I am fascinated by the tension between “fine art” and craft. The expanded world of materials in craft makes for beautiful and surprising work. Since my work tends to be sculptural even when I am painting in 2-D, I look forward to seeing new textures and constructions.