Sadie Alpine: Artist of the Week

For today's blog we are excited to announce our third Artist of the Week Sadie Alpine.

Sadie has recently been creating a range of digital collages using decorative patterns and vivid colours to portray concepts of anxiety and psychological issues. You can read more about her work and get a sense of the artist behind the images by reading our short Q&A. You can see more of her work @sadiealpineart

What media do you mostly use?

The media I use is mostly collage and digital. I like to try out different types to experiment but these are just what I've been enjoying working with at the moment. 

What projects have you recently completed?

I've recently created a range of painted kaleidoscopic images that were intended to be exhibited at a large scale across a wall or entire floor. The images are part of a topic I was focusing on surrounding anxiety, where I explored the complexity of the Rorschach test and their significance in psychology. 

What projects are you looking to do next?

I'm not sure what project I would like to do next, but I enjoy creating artwork around social issues so it would probably be something like that. 

What is your favourite thing about your own art practice and why?

My favourite thing about my art practice is that I like to often include vivid colours and experiment with different colour palettes as I'm always inspired by artists such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. 

What one thing would you like to change about the art industry today?

In the art world, I'd like to change how many people see art as needing to be skilled at realistic drawings and paintings in order for it to have worth, whereas many other styles such as conceptual art are often viewed as pointless as it isn't always aesthetically pleasing, but art doesn't always need to be. 

Have you found that your art practice has changed or developed in quarantine?

During quarantine I have found it very difficult to be motivated so my usual practice is at a standstill, but I'd say I've found that relaxing mediums such as embroidery and painting have helped me to distract myself and destress when I need some kind of creative outlet. 

We see that you use a lot of digital media. Can you describe your working process?

When I create digital work, I usually look up images online that I like or scan in photos from magazines. The software I use is Photoshop because it gives me the ability to do whatever I think of; in my most recent project where I created kaleidoscopes from physical paintings, I was able to manipulate them easier. I then save lots of different variations of the same finished product but with minor changes to each one so that I can decide which ones I prefer. Some days I'll get bored of the same technique however and want to try out something else. 

What drew you to using Photoshop as a process?  

I use Photoshop because I've used it a lot in the past so I already have experience on how to use it so it's really easy for me now. If there's anything that I want to do on it that I'm unsure of, because it's used by so many other creatives there's always a tutorial online that I can watch, so I've mainly taught myself how to use it. You can also make lots of different images on it in a short amount of time, which appeals to me. 

It was very enjoyable to talk with the artists and understand their processes and techniques. It's interesting to see how Psychological research can be explored through an art practice in such a vibrant and layered way. We at Oddball believe it's very important to be raising awareness to mental health and anxiety, and Sadie's art is doing just that! Helping raise awareness through a creative outlet. We will definitely keep posted as to what Sadie does next.

If you are interested in being featured as an Artist of the Week you can fill out a short application form here.