A Studio Visit with Sabrina Shah
Ahead of our show, The Place of Complete Surprise at Sadie Coles, we visit the studio of Sabrina Shah.
Sabrina Shah’s paintings, with their bold, multi-layered paint application and varied textures, explore the territory of ideas and invention, where the absolutely new occurs. Jack in the box features characters that gaze directly at the viewer, in a scene full of motion and movement. The textured surfaces allow for slippages and tension between form and meaning. Referencing childhood memories, animated characters and make believe, her not-quite-human, not-quite-animal characters, at once familiar yet distant, personify feelings of being othered or out of place. Often incorporating elements of suspense and surprise in her narratives, Shah also references food cultures and her mixed Chinese-South Asian heritage.
