Sarah Christianson
Instagram: sarah.christianson
Website: http://www.sarahchristianson.com
Bio: I am an artist and educator in Oakland, CA, but I grew up on a four-generation family farm in eastern North Dakota (an hour north of Fargo). Immersed in that vast expanse of the Great Plains, I developed a strong affinity for this landscape and its stories. This connection to place has had a profound effect on my work: despite moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2009, I continue to document the subtleties and nuances of the Midwestern landscape and experience. My long-term photographic projects and artist books revolve around home and family and often incorporate materials from my family’s archive. Throughout my work, I use my personal experiences and connection to the land to evoke a strong sense of place, history, and time.
Statement: "Elegy (for you & the cottonwoods) This limited edition artist book honors my Grandma Margaret and a heritage grove of cottonwood trees that was first planted on our land in North Dakota between 1878-1887. When my grandmother died in 2017, my parents were released from an unspoken obligation to her: to keep the farm the same. The following year, they cleared a 10-acre grove of cottonwoods to grow crops there instead. Although the trees had lived a long time, like Grandma, their longevity was cold comfort as I grieved for these missing touchstones in my life. I wasn’t able to be with my grandmother when she died, so I felt as if I couldn’t fail the cottonwoods. I had to be there to witness their passing, to honor their legacy, to wish them farewell. On July 30, 2018, I photographed the final eight trees as they crashed to earth. I promised the cottonwoods that they would be used well—the same pledge that medieval Chinese woodsmen made to trees they harvested. Elegy (for you & the cottonwoods) is the result of my promise. This handmade artist book combines my photographs of the trees being felled with relief prints made directly from the cottonwoods and portraits of my grandmother. "