Welcome to Sara Land
By Lisa Freedman
Inked Magazine, April Issue 2010
Photograph by SASPHOTOS
Sara Antoinette Martin's art is so hard to categorize that she'd rather not even try. "I'd hyst tell them to Google me," the Brooklyn artist says when aske to explain her style to someone who's never seen it. The trusty search engine didn't clarify things. " Her work is a conversation of emotions and reflections of how she sees herself in this world and how the world sees her," her site, sara-land.net explains. She creates each element - usually stemming from religious icons, alchemical symbols, imaginary sea creatures, and more - individually and then regroups them to form a wacky-slash-creepy collage. " I view myself as a filter," she says. "I take all my influences, filter them through myself, and spit them back out as a mishmash of symbols to illustrate complete emotions."
When it comes to her owns tattoos, though, she doesn't like to be the one doing the creating. Her biggest tattoo, a thigh piece by Eli Quiters of Smith Street Tattoo in Brooklyn, portrays a giant squide battling a whale on a pirate shop under a thunderstorm. She says she usually brings him an idea or a basic sketch and lets him run with the theme rater than replicate her work. "I'd get tired of looking at my own stuff every day. Or get mad at myself that I didn't do a better job."
While her work has been featured everywhere from Kidrobot to Chumby (the adorable Wi-Fi device), Martin is still trying to figure out her next move. She left her photography gig at Kidrobot in July of 2008 when she had a slew of toy designs coming out - then the recession he. Although she works part-time as an artist assistant for Tara McPherson and is getting into textile design as a way to make money, she really wants to focus on fine art. "I need to figure out how I'm gonna survive being as artist.: (Note to readers: Got to http://store.skelecore.com and buy a thing or three!) Another gig she had entertained: learning how to tattoo.
"I think I'd be good at it," she says, "though after talking to people I realize it's a whole other universe of art making." For now, her goal is to work as an apprentice or a shop girl to get more exposure. She acknowledges it'll be at least a few years of hard work - but he, at least she already knows how to draw.
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