Sarah D. Haskell
Artist Statement
Thread is my medium, color is language. I dye linen, paper or cotton with botanical dyes from plants and minerals. I weave, embroider or crochet these threads, seeking to define a personal truth and collective wisdom.
Exploring the parallels between the impermanence of my organic textile materials and our human bodies, I treat my hand woven linens to rust dyeing, weathering, bleach and compost dyeing. These transformative and dye processes allow me to be a witness in the process of metamorphosis and to challenge my attachment to what I once deemed as precious. After the handwoven linen has been weathered and dyed, I embellish it with hand stitching to add details to the imagery and story.
Within the repetitive methods inherent to textiles, I find a quiet space of engagement - a place to illustrate universal stories of love, loss and longing, the heartache of the ephemeral, the tender beauty of the natural world and the astonishing gift of being human.
Bio
Born and raised in New England, Sarah has a BFA in Textile Design from RISD and a Masters of Art and Healing from Wisdom University. As a seeker, maker and creative pathfinder her medium is most often thread. Sarah’s artwork explores the cross over between text and textile, investigating the mystery of encoded fabrics and the hidden language of cloth.
Sarah has exhibited in regional and national shows including The September 11th Memorial and Museum, NYC, NY; The Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA; Museum Texas Tech University, Lubbock TX ; Artists’ Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Portland Museum of Art, Portland ME; The Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH, FiberArts Gallery, La Jolla, CA, The Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KA, The New Bedford Art Museum, New Bedford, MA, The Attleboro Museum of Art, Attleboro, MA.
In 2023 Sarah was awarded a Maine Crafts Association/Maine Arts Commission Crafts Apprenticeship to mentor Kathrine Ferrier, Rockland, ME. She is a 2021 Fellow for the Maine Arts Commission and has been a 4 times finalist for the Greater Piscataqua Charitable Foundation Artist Advancement Award.
Artist residencies include Monson Arts, Monson, ME; Monhegan Island, ME; Hewnoaks, Lovell, ME; Vermont Studio Center, Peters Valley Crafts Center, Layton, NJ; Acadia National Park, ME and Hambidge Center, Rabun, GA.
Community Art has been at the heart her work since 1999. "Each One: The Button Project, a 9/11 Memorial" (2001-2) Sarah’s first community art project, owned by the City of Portsmouth, NH, was created to honor the over 3,000 who perished that day, including the hijackers. “Woven Voices, Messages from the Heart” her global peace project, concluded in 2012 after 4 years of successfully weaving community, peace and creative expression. “Well Used, Well Loved” (2015- 17) explores age, beauty, attachment and impermanence using a handwoven dishtowel and reflective writing, involving over 50 households across the US.
The "Mandala Community Weaving" is a project designed in 1999 and has presented to over 200 nationwide organizations and schools. Sarah continues to design and guide interactive, inclusive, intergenerational art projects that are literally woven from the fabric of the community - culminating in an colorful, personal and illustrative artwork - a keepsake for the local community.