october 15 – december 6
Touch Grass explores the tension between physical and virtual experiences. Pater drew inspiration from the undersea fiber optic cables that power the global internet, using their unseen form as a chance to merge the literal with the imaginative. The title carries a dual meaning, reflecting both the physical act of touching grass to reconnect with nature, and its use in internet slang to encourage a break from the digital world and a return to reality.
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Undersea cable (blue clock)
2024
Oil and wax on canvas over panel
24 x 20 inches
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In this new body of work, I combine images of skies, insects, animals, nature, and still life with my interpretations of the undersea cables that comprise the physical internet.
I’ve been trying to imagine what these cables that impact everything about modern life look like. There are very few photographs of the cables, and I thought that made them good subjects for painting — an opportunity for abstraction and invention while simultaneously referring to something literal.
I’ve been trying to imagine what these cables that impact everything about modern life look like. There are very few photographs of the cables, and I thought that made them good subjects for painting — an opportunity for abstraction and invention while simultaneously referring to something literal.
— sarah pater
Four spring azures (sky, undersea cables)
2024
Oil and wax on linen over panel
18 x 14 inches
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Snake in dappled sunlight at the river (undersea cables)
2024
Oil and wax on linen over panel
18 x 14 inches
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Appearing throughout the works are two adjacent circles that symbolize cross-sections of the cables.
In some compositions, they take the form of luminous orbs piercing through shadowy expanses, evoking a celestial quality akin to twin moons. Elsewhere, they blend into their surroundings, articulated only through subtle three-dimensional relief. Pater chose to depict the cables at their true scale, capturing their actual circumference, which strikingly mirrors the size of a human eye — forging a symbolic link between the natural and the technological.
In some compositions, they take the form of luminous orbs piercing through shadowy expanses, evoking a celestial quality akin to twin moons. Elsewhere, they blend into their surroundings, articulated only through subtle three-dimensional relief. Pater chose to depict the cables at their true scale, capturing their actual circumference, which strikingly mirrors the size of a human eye — forging a symbolic link between the natural and the technological.
Undersea cable (green and black)
2024
Oil and wax on canvas over panel
20 x 16 inches
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Four bees (sky, undersea cables)
2024
Oil and wax on linen over panel
18 x 14 inches
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Mourning dove at sunset (undersea cables)
2024
Oil and wax on linen over panel
18 x 14 inches
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My paintings are composite images that relate to contemporary ways of looking and seeing.
The formal elements of the frames reference omnipresent screens that allow simultaneous views and projections. The space in my paintings is frequently fractured, compressed, and stacked, reflecting the multiplicity and temporal haziness intrinsic to contemporary experience.
The formal elements of the frames reference omnipresent screens that allow simultaneous views and projections. The space in my paintings is frequently fractured, compressed, and stacked, reflecting the multiplicity and temporal haziness intrinsic to contemporary experience.
— sarah pater
The low-relief elements in my paintings highlight the sensory blurring of touch and flatness present in contemporary life.
I wanted to include at least one work that directly referenced the human body, and in particular, hands. I looked to one of my favorite Vermeer paintings, Woman Holding A Balance, painted circa 1663, to invoke the physical reality of 500-year-old hands at real scale.
I wanted to include at least one work that directly referenced the human body, and in particular, hands. I looked to one of my favorite Vermeer paintings, Woman Holding A Balance, painted circa 1663, to invoke the physical reality of 500-year-old hands at real scale.
— sarah pater
Peach, ribbon, and black vase in afternoon light (after Woman Holding A Balance by Johannes Vermeer) (undersea cables)
2024
Oil and wax on canvas over panel
30 x 22 inches
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Undersea cable (blue grey)
2024
Oil and wax on canvas over panel
20 x 16 inches
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Based in Philadelphia, Sarah Pater earned an M.F.A from Rhode Island School of Design and a B.F.A from Boston University. Her paintings have been included in recent solo and group exhibitions at Yi Gallery (New York); CHART (New York); Pablo’s Birthday (New York); Lighthouse Works (Fishers Island, NY); Helen J Gallery (Los Angeles); Peep Projects (Philadelphia); and Taymour Grahne Projects (London). Pater has been featured in New American Paintings and Bat City Review, with works reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, Two Coats of Paint, and Whitehot Magazine, among others. Pater has been awarded residencies at the Lighthouse Works, the Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency, the Sam & Adele Golden Foundation, and the Ora Lerman Charitable Trust.
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