Sarah Catania

Sarah Catania draws on her own life experiences to create works that engage with trauma, loss, grief and memory. Using different mediums to explore the impact of her own psychological struggles, she reflects on the consequences of negative experiences in her own life which have impacted her. Catania uses artwork as a way to process life and give expression to inner monologue.

#9 | Flesh, 2020, tape and charcoal on handmade paper. 19 x 16 cm (each). NFS

I created the Flesh series in late March 2020 after returning to my family home in country Victoria after my university went online and my work shut down. During this time, I had no access to a printmaking studio and left a lot of my art material up in Sydney, so I began exploring other avenues of mark making and recording impressions using what I had at home.

In this work I explore the flesh and marks of my own skin, recording this in a more distinct and permanent way. In the act of ripping the tape off my charcoal covered face, I reflected on the impermanence of the skin and the body, and how or if it is recorded after the body decomposes. What is left after we leave? I now have documentation of my flesh that will outlive my body.