Sarah Kabot
Sarah Kabot
Workspace Program Resident 2009
Prior to my residency at Dieu Donné, I used paper as the perfect blank – a found material both mutable and flexible enough for its qualities to disappear into the form of the work. Paper’s dual nature, both ephemeral and substantial, fit my purposes – a medium easily ruined or discarded, but with sturdy physical properties and a long history. These qualities allowed me to closely reproduce three-dimensional found objects, call into question the significance of an original, and emphasize the shift between original and reproduction.
I had been researching the Rorschach Test, and exploring possibilities with the ten standard ink blot patterns in the studio. Through pop culture, the images of the blots themselves have become a shorthand symbol of a psychological response. The history and use of the system as an ostensibly objective tool designed to test and categorize subjective psychological responses corresponds with my interest in the nature of perception. The emotional and objective ways in which color is analyzed and experienced parallels the test’s blend of subjectivity and categorization.
The standardized CMYK color model is also an objective system. By reproducing each blot in cyan, magenta, yellow and black separately, I was able to manipulate registration and alignment, and undermine the expectations of both the Rorschach and the CMYK structures. The papermaking process allowed me to begin my experimentation with the primary choices: the type of material and methods of manipulating pulp. Color was embedded in the paper, not applied to the surface. The form of each blot was shaped individually (not reproduced through printing or extracted from a larger sheet) – a technically complex process. The project would have never been possible without Artistic Director Paul Wong’s mastery and craftsmanship. My exposure to the work in the archive at Dieu Donné, and my experiences on the studio floor with Paul and Catherine Cox substantially expanded my conceptions of paper as a material.
— Sarah Kabot, 2009
In the Studio
About the Artist
Sarah Kabot (b. Royal Oak, Michigan) received a B.F.A. in Fiber and Ceramics from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1998 a MFA in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2002. She is currently Associate Professor and Chair of the Drawing Department at the Cleveland Institute of Art in Ohio.
Sarah’s work has shown nationally and abroad, at institutions including The Suburban (IL), Smack Mellon (NY), the Akron Museum of Art (OH), the Museum of Contemporary Art (OH), the Drawing Center (NY), the Peabody Essex Museum (MA), Denny Gallery (NY), and Tegnerforbundet in Oslo, Norway. In 2013, Sarah completed two large public art commissions in Ohio.
Recent honors include residencies at Dieu Donne Papermill (NY), a Swing Space residency through the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (NY), the Headlands Center for Art (CA), and UCross (WY). Her work is in the public collections of the West Collection, the Cleveland Clinic, and Progressive Insurance. Sarah has been the recipient of several grants and prizes including the 10th semi-annual Dave Bown Prize, a 2016 Creative Workforce Fellowship, and 2015 and 2010 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards. Additionally, her work has appeared in Sculpture Magazine, the New York Times online, and the Village Voice. (Source: Artist’s Website)
For more information, please visit their website: https://www.sarahkabot.com