Stare in the mirror at yourself long enough and some weird shit starts to happen. You begin to see traits you never noticed, sort of morphings that become apparent only when you look closely and longingly. I try and avoid this personally, as I probably don't want to see my eye level or slight malfunction of my brain to face connection. But Sara Birns, the Santa Cruz-based painter who makes a bending and blurring face a thing of beauty, paints these changing emotions in an eloquent and grotesque manner.
Richard Heller Gallery is pleased to present: Sara Birns: Explorers of the Garden Planet. This is Birns' second solo exhibition with the gallery.
As the exhibition notes, "We are the explorers of the garden planet. Our morphed faces uncover the layers of ever-changing emotions we experience in single moments as we journey to explore ourselves and our influences on this planet. The works are a combination of oil pastel and oil paint done in a specific order to take the viewers through different phases we face during our experience. The works were produced during the artist’s travels through Europe for five months and continued upon arriving back to her hometown, Santa Cruz CA. The story highlights Birns’ own journey to transition from feeling disconnected to positioning herself on paths to help her recover a connection to nature. Realizing the influence we all have on this earth, and how to steer it in directions for a more luscious garden planet."
