Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Aikens.
Sara, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I come from a family of artists and musicians, which has always made me feel that a sense of community and support around having an artistic practice was normal. As a painter currently focusing on acrylic, encaustic and mixed medias I found that doing more than creating for the sake of personal expression was in my calling from the universe.
I am a passionate lover of art in all forms and I have turned a daily discipline of creating into an online art gallery called Prinvas. Our initiative as a group of Chicago artists, photographers and designers is to create work from here, by here to support here. 5% of every piece of art that we sell is donated to an organization on the South Side named SKYart, which enables children that would otherwise never be exposed to the arts have access to after and during school programs. Our goal is to continue to deepen that contribution so we can lift while we climb. All of our photography is exclusively printed through Latitude Chicago, which is another organization that supports the print and educational side of photography here.
I could speak to my personal artistic style and how it has developed over the years but due to being surrounded by the talent, passion and commitment from the collaborating artists at Prinvas and the teachers and administrators at SKYart… I would consider myself a moving target on a mission to mobilize a larger sense of community and action around not only the art I create but also represent.
This philanthropic side of my heart and mind lends me to create work that is fueled to create an awareness of social issues that prevent us all from flourishing.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I predominately create acrylic canvas work and use this medium as a journal of where I am at in my life. I often have larger pieces that I plan to be unfinished for months or years at a time that I hang unfinished in my studio. During that time the pieces live in between something I challenge myself to practice everyday on something smaller and more immediately gratifying.
My larger long term acrylic pieces generally have a social commentary that I feel is relevant to the vulnerabilities in humanity. They tend to be concept based and sometimes a combination of portraiture and abstract. My smaller and daily disciplined pieces are typically color studies for me to play with texture and contrast. In my personal opinion they finish to have a much more light hearted esthetic.
I am currently working on a life project that will never be for sale that is a color journal translated into 52 bars in reflection of each week. I paint a bar every Sunday and plan to do so until I cannot any longer in the hopes to convey that there is beauty in all parts of life good, bad, happy and difficult.
How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
For me success is in the commitment to keep creating no matter how you feel it worked out. The process of pushing through ruining your own work or hating something that you made with your hands because it looked nothing like what you had template in your mind makes me feel successful every time I do it.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
You can see my own personal work and the work of Prinvas Collab Artists in two places.
www.prinvas.com
&
@prinvas
We post art daily for sale and for the love of the game.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.prinvas.com
- Email: sara.aikens@prinvas.com
- Instagram: @prinvas
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prinvas/
Image Credit:
All images were taken by Sara Aikens
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