Sarah Tarquin

My work explores the psychological and physiological disassociation of inadequacy, unrequited love, and disappointment in the mind and body. There is a tension created within this space between self-rejection and the pressure to appear composed. I am interested in this push and pull as a form of performativity, where identity is constructed, rehearsed, and embodied, revealing a cyclical disconnection and reconnection between mind, body, and sensuality.

My practice consists of repetitive brushstrokes, layering, and patterning. I build a rythm of marks that mirrors this internal cycle, an accumulation of gestures that oscillate between control and fragmentation. These repetitions become a visual language of fixation and return, reflecting the compulsive nature of self-scrutiny, desire, and the attempt to stabilize identity through the body. Fragmented, enlarged, or destabilized figures confront the viewer while simultaneously withholding, creating tension between vulnerability and control. Surfaces blur distinctions between interior and exterior, flesh and environment as veins, cracks, and organic forms merge into surrounding space. Bold, inventive color, drawn from Fauvism, emphasizes emotional intensity, while monumental compositions amplify the experience of self-awareness and exposure.

I approach these ideas through the intersection of the feminine and the grotesque. Drawing from art history, mythology, and the concept of the abject, I see the grotesque not as separate from femininity, but as inherent to it. Figures such as Medusa or the siren, alongside the distortions of Surrealism and Expressionism, inform my understanding of femininity as something historically positioned between attraction and unease. Working through self-referential imagery, I create scenes that feel both intimate and intrusive, as if the viewer is witnessing a private moment of becoming. These works reflect the repetitive rituals of self-presentation and the ongoing negotiation between internal experience and external expectation. Ultimately, I aim to give form to the cyclical tension of inhabiting a body shaped through performativity, desire, and the instability of self-perception.