Sara Downham

Sara’s paintings are a celebration of colour, form and the creative process. Her starting point is almost always spontaneous, with some memory or vision of a particular place at the back of her mind. Working with mixed media collage on paper, she assembles together hand-painted abstract forms and fragments of past paintings. By repeatedly painting over, scratching into, cutting up and reassembling the surface, a number of layers or ‘lives’ are built up, the traces of which can be seen beneath the surface. These translucent layers of texture and colour replace conventional perspective and pictorial means to produce pure form.

In the last twenty years Sara has exhibited widely in Britain, Eastern Europe and the USA. She studied Fine Art in London and Manchester and later gained an MPhil in Art History at Glasgow University. In 1988 Sara was awarded a British Council / Polish Government Postgraduate Scholarship to paint in Gdansk, Poland for three years, followed by a few months in Budapest.

As a child Sara lived in Central Africa and a number of places around the UK (most especially Devon and Northumberland). Later she spent time exploring, living and working in other continents, experiences of which shaped her both as a person and as a working artist. Sara was based in Edinburgh for most of the 1990s, a productive time for teaching and painting, and in 1998 moved to North Carolina, USA for four years where she had her first two children, and continued to paint and to teach. She then moved back to the UK with her family, living in North London before moving to the South Hams in Devon in 2006.

Solo Exhibitions

2007
Winter Glow, Harbour House, Kingsbridge
2004, 2003
Clissold House, London
1999
Panoramic Places, Kingfisher Gallery, Edinburgh
Horace Williams House, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
1998
New Impressions, Carrboro Arts Center, North Carolina
Sacred Spaces, Kingfisher Gallery, Edinburgh
1997
Firth Gallery, Edinburgh
Chatton Gallery, Alnwick
1996
Paintings & Processes, WASPS Gallery, Edinburgh
Window Series, Leith Gallery, Edinburgh
Hope Scott Gallery, Edinburgh
Games With Colour, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
Christmas Paintings, Elephant House, Edinburgh
1995
French Institute, Edinburgh
Celebrations In Colour, WASPS Gallery, Edinburgh
Elephant House, Edinburgh
Bann’s Café Gallery, Edinburgh
1992
New Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
Chapel Gallery, Saltram House, Plymouth
1991
Galeria Arche, Gdansk
Galeria Yam, Zakopane
1990
Galeria Brama, Warsaw
Galeria Arche, Gdansk
1989
PWSSP (Gdansk Art Academy), Gdansk
1988
Wlot Gallery, Gdansk
1987
Summer Paintings, The Ceilidh Place, Ullapool

Group Exhibitions

2006
Brownston Gallery, Modbury
Red Propeller Gallery, Kingsbridge
West Eleven Gallery, London
2005
Chatton Gallery, Alnwick
2004
New Street Gallery, Plymouth
2000
Chatton Gallery, Alnwick
1999
Art Source, Raleigh, North Carolina
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Firth Gallery, Edinburgh
1998
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Gallerie Michelle, Alexandria, Virginia
Essence Of Landscape, Heifer Gallery, London
1997
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Images Of The Sea, Cadogan Contemporary, London
Summer Exhibition, White Lane Gallery, Plymouth
The Sea Show, Thompson’s Gallery, London
The Marine Show, Leith Gallery, Edinburgh
Air Gallery, London
1996
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Christmas Show, Chatton Gallery, Alnwick
Six Women Artists, Firth Gallery, Edinburgh
Into Spring, Kingfisher Gallery, Edinburgh
Summer Show, Chatton Gallery, Alnwick
1995
Common Grounds Café, Edinburgh
1992
Galeria Dal, Gdansk
1991
New Street Gallery, Plymouth
Galeria Arche, Gdansk
1990
Galeria Arche, Gdansk