Sarah Contos is an Australian artist known for her

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

s and installations. She has been a finalist in a number of art prizes, and was the inaugural recipient of the $100,000

Ramsay Art Prize The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant art museum, visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a col ...

at the

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

Education

In 1998 Contos completed a Diploma of Fine Arts in Art, Design and Multimedia at the Central Metropolitan College of TAFE in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. In 2004, she completed a Bachelor of Design for Performance at

Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a performing arts school in Perth, Western Australia. Established in 1980, it is notable for being the most comprehensive performing arts school in Aus ...

and worked as a theatre costume and

set design Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including plays and musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, where it may be referred to as prod ...

er. She completed a Masters of Art (Painting) at the College of Fine Arts (now

UNSW Art & Design The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public university, public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, ...

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

Career and practice

Contos' artworks incorporate

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

screen printing Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen in a "flood stroke ...

found objects A found object (a calque from the French ''objet trouvé''), or found art, is art created from undisguised, but often modified, items or products that are not normally considered materials from which art is made, often because they already have ...

, and painting in a practice best described as

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and installation-focused. In 2009, Contos moved to Sydney to pursue her career as an artist. In 2015, she gained representation with gallerist Roslyn Oxley. In 2018 Contos completed a residency at

Cité Internationale des Arts The Cité internationale des arts is an artist-in-residence building complex which accommodates artists of all specialities and nationalities in Paris. It comprises two sites, one located in the Marais and the other in Montmartre. Approximately ...

in Paris and presented an installation for the Balnaves Contemporary Series at the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

called ''Nikola Tesla Sends Theda Bara to Mars.'' In 2019, Contos was one of four artists who created site-specific installations for the Sofitel Darling Harbour for Sydney Contemporary. Contos explores identity, eroticism, femininity, materiality, popular culture and history. She describes her life in relation to contradictions, saying: “I make quilts for art but never for warmth. I watch cooking shows but never cook. I want to cover my home in florals, but it ends up in wine stained sequins”. Contos' practice is studio-based. Australian artist and curator Daniel Mudie Cunningham reflected on a studio visit with the artist by saying, "Imagine a happy-sad catastrophe of colour and movement; an inviting lair where tactile sculptural forms appear embalmed in recycled teenage tears".

Recognition

In 2011, she was among six recipients of the Marten Bequest scholarship. In 2013, she was a finalist in the John Fries Award and one of three inaugural recipients of the 4A Beijing Study Program, alongside Tully Arnot and Jensen Tjhung. In 2014, her work ''Personification of Past and Future Mythologies (Double-Headed Barry)'' was included in the Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize. In 2017, Contos won the inaugural $100,000

at the Art Gallery of South Australia with her work ''Long Kiss Goodbye''.

Collections

*Campbelltown City Council collection *

Heide Museum of Modern Art The Heide Museum of Modern Art, also known as Heide, is an art museum in Bulleen, Victoria, Bulleen, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Established in 1981, the museum exhibits modern art, modern and contemporary a ...

References

External links

* at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery * at Station Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Contos, Sarah 21st-century Australian artists Living people 21st-century Australian women artists Year of birth missing (living people)