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Artist's Statement
Gothic imagination meets the flawless eye of an animator in the latest works by this Dunedin-based painter.
Dolby conjures some famous names, Mary Shelley and Ophelia get a mention, but these women are not truly of this world. They appear to have floated to earth from a parallel universe, where Victorian gothic meets Japanese animé. Haunting, beautiful and saying it all with their eyes.
Dolby, aged 36, grew up in Dunedin, traveling extensively before returning home to complete a Fine Arts degree at Otago Polytech. She was employed by Ian Taylor’s Animation Research studio from art school, where she is now creative director, working flexi time to fit in her burgeoning painting career. She sees synergies between the flawless, hyper-realistic computer-generated animation of her day job, and the smooth surfaces and graceful lines of her painting. Each work can take up to three months to produce. Dolby likens the work to dairy entries.
“I have to be patient with my subject matter,” she says. “I work in the old fashioned way of an under painting first, slowly introducing colours as the piece evolves. Each painting is personal to me. I’m in no rush and feel I have a lot to say through these women.” Dolby draws on themes of nature, death and creation to explore the way women are portrayed in society.
The works are rich in texture and symbolism, Dolby sources props from her travels, anything from holy cards from Prague to fabrics in London. “My inspiration comes from characters in the street, movies, books, moods, conversations. I was listening to an audio book of Gormengast when painting Sophia’s Lament, hence the palette of greys.”
Sarah lives in Dunedin, where the dramatic atmosphere and constantly changing light of the Otago coast is gradually entering her work.
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