Sarah Lawson
Artist-in-Residence
Sarah Lawson (they/them) is a writer and visual artist living in Nelson County, Virginia, whose work explores the natural alongside the artificial, the profound as well as the mundane. Through acts of extraction and reassembly, they imagine new ways of constructing reality and living in this world. In their creative explorations as well as their studies in the VCU School of Social Work, Sarah seeks to build engagement and community co-creation into their practice in order to foster connection and a collective capacity for awe.
During their Fall 2022 Research Residency, Sarah explored how the climate crisis is impacting our individual and collective ideas of death and dying, interrogating how we (do or do not) adapt our death-related perceptions and beliefs, as well as plans for a “good death,” when there’s so much more than our individual lives at stake in this ecological moment. Combining interviews, workshops, and discussions with the creative practices of collage and zine-making, Sarah sought to cultivate a deeper, communal curiosity around death and dying, to create an expressive space where community members can feel comfortable asking questions and exploring their feelings in an encouraging and supportive setting while also accessing practical resources related to end-of-life and climate considerations.
Instagram: @commonplacearts
Bio courtesy of the artist.
