I make performative sculpture. In some of my work, dancers operate heavy, creaking wooden marionettes—the sensuality of fluid human movement contrasting with the clunky movements of enormous wooden legs. I work from memories of my childhood perceptions, creating sculptures that solve problems as a child would, often revealing the absurdity of those childish solutions.

Movement is the strongest trigger for my memory and also what grounds me most in the present. I give my sculptures movement of their own, initially to bring back the memory of being a child and then to allow the pieces to move past their childhood origins to interact with and become a part of the present. 

As an adult, I see the imperfections, the wilderness of textures and fragments, in the constant re-figuring of the past that forms memory. I invite the moments of uncertainty that come with trying to form these scraps into a story told in the work. This formative process includes the awkwardness of trying to convert mind matter to physical form, along with the dysfunctional maneuvers involved and the precarious feelings that emerge into the humor of childlike play. The sculpture is left to be found by the viewer—a trail of crumbs leading to the story and the mindset from which it sprang.

Sarah Fetterman

cargocollective.com/SarahFetterman

Born 1991, Palo Alto, CA
Currently Resides Seattle, WA

Education
• BA, Bennington College, 2014