Sara Anstis

Sara Anstis (b. 1991, Stockholm) was raised on a small island off the Canadian west coast and draws and lives wherever she finds good light. She uses sensuous soft pastels and paint to build worlds at a remove from heteronormative patriarchy, yet strikingly transformative of it. The predominant concepts that her works explore are subjectivity, Eros, Thanatos, humour, personal mythologies, misunderstandings and (mis)anthropomorphisms. These themes are woven together in her images and installations alongside a plethora of otherworldly elements - strange creatures, surreal landscapes and plants - by which her figures lay claim to desire, for better or for worse.

She holds a BFA in Studio Art and Sociology from Concordia University, Montreal (2013), an MFA in Fine Art from Valand Academy, Gothenburg (201) and she completed the Drawing Year Postgraduate Programme at the Royal Drawing School, London (2018).

Solo and duo exhibitions include ‘Procession’, Kasmin Gallery, New York (2022); ‘Bundle’, Various Small Fires (VSF), Seoul (2022);‘A Great Relief’, Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal (2021); ‘Pencil of Rays’, Fabian Lang gallery, Zurich (2021); ‘Discrete’, Nevven Gallery, Gothenburg (2020);‘Comings and Goings’ (with Neal Tait), Fabian Lang gallery, Zurich (2020); ‘Slip Spill’, 650mAh, Brighton (2019). 

Her work has been featured in group exhibitions at Lyles & King, New York (2022); Holden Gallery, Manchester (2021); Kasmin, New York (2021); 1969 gallery, New York (2021); Galerie Derouillon, Paris (2021); Lychee One, London (2020); Castor Projects, London (2020); Palazzo Monti, Brescia (2019); Patrick Parrish Gallery, New York (2019); Fabian Lang gallery, Zurich (2019); Royal Palace – Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities, Stockholm (2019); Galerie Antoine Ertaskiran, Montréal (2019); Christie’s, London (2018); BEERS gallery, London (2018).

Anstis has been awarded grants from Jerwood Arts (2019), Fredrika Bremer Förbundet (2018), Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation (2016), the Anna-Lisa Thomson foundation (2016) among others. She has been artist-in-residence at Palazzo Monti x The Great Women Artists, Brescia (2019); El Segundo Museum of Art, California (2019); Rhode Island School of Design (2019) and Kunstnarhuset Messen, Ålvik (2016). Her works are held in the collections of Uppsala Art Museum, Sweden; Region Uppsala, Swede); and The Royal Collection, UK. 

Sara Anstis is represented by Kasmin Gallery and Various Small Fires.