SARA LEE HUGHES

ARTIST BIO

Sara Lee was born in Dallas, Texas in 1968. She graduated Texas State University (formerly Southwest Texas State University) with a degree in theatrical design and a love for acting. After college she moved to the east coast working as a scenic painter for television, film and theater. In 1995 she began studies in classical drawing and painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she earned a certificate in painting and printmaking. In 2003 she received a fellowship to the Vermont Studio where she developed work on the subject of her father and her heritage. Many of the sketches she developed then have become realized works in the last few years. Shortly after Vermont, she moved to New York and earned her Masters in Painting from Pratt Institute. Sustaining herself through scenic painting and teaching, her work brought her back to Texas in 2008. She currently has a full time studio practice along with teaching privately.

Sara Lee draws inspiration from the representational painters Antonio Lopez Garcia, Bo Bartlett, Andrew Wyeth , the magic realism of Frida Kahlo and the varied works of William Kentridge. Her background in theater and film has remained an important influence in her work. In 2012 she became a mother and that has imparted a new lens in which she views the world and her work.

Sara Lee lives and works in Central Texas with her husband Michael and their daughter Marlowe.


ARTIST STATEMENT

My paintings are representational narratives influenced by my growing up in Texas during the 1970’s and 80’s with divorced parents.

They are created from moments, memories and ideas that highlight my journey navigating the differences between my gay father, my straight mother, the socio-cultural political norms of the era in which they were raised and the socio-cultural political norms of my own generation.

The paintings rely on my theater experience in acting and design. I cast myself as the characters. The scenes are composed with attention to direction, costume, lighting and set design. Metaphors are used frequently. I also self reference my work in order to strengthen the meaning of a motif. I exaggerate the familiar and make it improbable. Southern colloquialisms and Pop Culture provide elements of humor. The sense of nostalgia and familiarity is created through my palette which is inspired by vintage magazine ads of the 1940’s, 50’s and 70’s.

All of these elements nurture a connection between the narrative and the audience. My intention is to create work that identifies and/or highlights behaviors, values and stereotypes that derive from unquestioned traditions.

Currently I am exploring the attempt, by so many of us, at trying to strike a balance between the need to be our truest selves and the tether of antiquated social mores, traditions and stereotypes and how this experience fits into our country’s broader social and cultural narrative.