Sarah Jane Barry showcases grief, vulnerability and resilience in new exhibit

“The Dragons in Our Lives,” an exhibit by Sarah Jane Barry at the Buffalo Arts Studio, showcases grief, vulnerability and resilience in the midst of dark times like the COVID-19 pandemic. A mixed media artist from Buffalo, Barry reflects on these difficult emotions through the “meditative process” of creating paintings and sculptures.

“A lot of the stuff I didn’t want to deal with and had put on the back-burner, [I] put it all into my show,” she said. “Everyone has stuff in their life and I have no illusion that mine is bigger than anyone else’s, but it was nice to share this universal experience with a lot of people.”

One of many standout pieces, “The Storm After,” works mostly with dark colors and tones, while pieces like “Traverse” and “Serenity” are brighter. The large and colorful array of paintings exemplify the raw emotion and layers of grief felt by so many during the pandemic.

The paintings  stem from Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem, “A Dream of Winter.” The poem talks about using the deepest and darkest parts of ourselves, including our grief and trauma, to create something grander.

“The idea of the poem from my perspective is that those painful things that you don’t know what they’re doing to you, or how they fit into your future story,” Barry said.

When designing the pieces for the exhibition, Barry wanted to push herself to try things that were outside of her comfort zone — including papier mache. Despite a very trial-and-error process, the sculptures ultimately add a sense of hope, humanity and optimism to the show.

“I think I’m still going to keep doing the work that I [normally] do because it seems to connect to people and they like it,” Barry said. “And I enjoy making it.”

The exhibit is available until Oct. 11.

Josh Pawlik is an assistant arts editor and can be reached at josh.pawlik@ubspectrum.com

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