Sarah Thibault

Sarah Thibault has traveled the world since the summer of 2018, living as a nomad and staying in artist residencies. Her work is a reflection of her surroundings, her journeys, and the people she meets on the way. “My experiences have required me to re-evaluate all the habits and mental patterns that, in hindsight, had kept my world safe and small. As my physical world expanded, my connection to my internal world deepened.”

Audre Lorde's words on the importance of female self-care gave her the roadmap from which to chart her own path. Sarah is a defender/strong advocate of women's rights and her work is a deep reflection on her solo travels and the need to be self-sufficient. Her work is a response to the historical tradition of odalisque paintings, in which women appear reclining at the service of the artist and the male gaze. “I aim to present my subjects in a way that gives them agency - as sensual, thoughtful, aware of their own desires and needs, creators and consumers in their own right - not just existing as the object of someone else’s fantasy.” Documentation and self-portraiture is a central theme of her work; many visuals are autobiographical and reflect artist friends or herself in moments of self-care.

The artist traces a journey back to the self. Her work is a meditation on the inner life: the paintings and drawings are calm and intimate, but with a strong emotional impact. Her work is a platform to turn darkness into light, whether it is to transform an uncomfortable emotion into a resting painting or to tell a story that makes viewers laugh.

She hopes for the works to act as a mirror for the audience. “If people like looking at my paintings for more than 20 seconds, or whatever the average time is for a viewer to look at art in a museum, then I feel like I have won. If my work makes people feel seen when they look at it because they recognize something of themselves in it, then even better."

Sarah Thibault was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (b.1980). Currently, she lives and works as an artist and writer in San Francisco. Her work has been shown in the United States, Europe, and Mexico. Exhibition experience includes projects with the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Interface Gallery, HILDE Gallery, Steve Turner Contemporary, Mark Wolf Contemporary, and ART in Embassies.  Her work has been featured in The San Francisco Chronicle Datebook, Artsy, CARLA, San Francisco Magazine, SFAQ, The Examiner, The Huffington Post, and 7×7. She is the founder of the online publication Artists + Travel and a Charter Resident of the Minnesota Street Project studios since 2016.  She holds an MFA from the California College of the Arts, a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, and a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.