Sarah Kate Bond | Painting

Artist Statement

I create out of a fascination with people–how their interactions and experiences shape who they are and others around them. After creating works focused on weightier themes– like hot-button issues or disconnections between people– I began struggling to find joy in the work I was creating.  This series was a fight against my pervasive negativity; a conscious shift towards joy in creating. It serves as a wake up call to myself, and hopefully others, to see the joyful moments between people that make life better, rather than the dismal ones that I get stuck on.

In this series, I depict everyday moments—mundane acts such as washing dishes together or unexpected visits from friends. Through these snapshots, I seek to honor the subtle, often overlooked gestures that strengthen connection and uplift others, regardless of what that person may be going through. The figures in my work are shown in gestures of warmth, support, and affection, celebrating the small moments that bring joy and contentment, seen in my life and others which I observe. While these moments may seem ordinary, they are vital expressions of love and care, reminding me that these gestures are more impactful than we realize. Beyond just showing that these moments exist, these paintings use ambiguous figures and spaces to help jog the viewer’s memory of their own experiences, and invite them into the warmth and comfort I find in these stories.