Sarah Wallace's Studio Works
As someone raised outside the white, Christian, heteronormative, nuclear family, I want to create objects that counter white culture, question harmful religious ideas, and expose an outside perspective to those embedded within white culture. I want my work to speak for those who have felt alienated for their “otherism", or for not meeting that one-size-fits-all standards of white culture.
In my Good vs Evil 3-dimensional cameo brooches, I subvert the Christian “good vs. evil,” “white vs. black” narrative with the black one including a unicorn with chrysanthemum leaves, to represent childhood innocence. The white one has a two-horned unicorn, or bicorn, with lobelia flowers, representing malice and malevolence. Those who do not fit into the “Good Christian Family Values” standard of premarital chastity, heterosexuality and heteronormativity, etc, are considered sinners, and “Good Christians” judge those people as destined for Hell. I want to speak for those who have faced these meaningless prejudices. I call my work “Color Culture” because I do not want to have my work associated with negativity, like “anti-Christian” or “anti-white.” I am addressing White Culture and toxic Christianity. The LGBTQ are frequent targets of Christian intolerance and hate, and using the colors of the rainbow are appropriate for incorporating into my work , like my Gremlin Bells.
My other series, Glow Bears, are made from flex foam and have intense, neon pigmentation, fluoresce a different color under a black light, and glow in the dark. I combined the idea of a nightlight and a teddy bear into one object that brings comfort and dimly illuminates. The foam material is squishy and can be squeezed for comfort. There are children’s toys incorporated into some of my work along with childlike themes and whimsy, because I’m trying to edit/rewrite my early life and create objects that spark joy and comfort.
Due to early childhood trauma, I began wearing a pendant necklace that grew into a protective talisman. I found that when I was going to face a situation that caused anxiety, I would reach up and grab the pendant, rubbing it, moving it back and forth along the chain, and sometimes putting it in my mouth. After about ten years of never taking it off, this pendant, a small sterling silver Viking dragon longboat, became my amulet of protection. Every time I touched it, I repeat a positive affirmation or gave myself a compliment. I find the idea of a protective talisman, an object to wear every day and never take off, so that it becomes part of my SELF, is comforting. Likewise, my objects bring me comfort, joy, and are useful for protection or security.
Because my work re-appropriates negative Christian symbols originally appropriated from non-Christian peoples and used to control their followers through fear, it may appear “Satanic” through the lens of toxic Christian Ideology, when without that lens is innocent and fun.