Whatever its medium, art should communicate something raw and personally honest, even if the driving intention is just momentary. Art cannot transcend if it isn’t honest, and the most evocative art comes from the most honest place accessible to everyone, the waters of archetypes and the subconscious.

I love working with whatever environment I find myself in, natural or otherwise, and enjoy photography that documents liminal spaces. I am most consistently inspired by the work of Paraska Plytka-Horytsvit and Tarkovsky’s films. By joining The Creative Process, I hope to reconnect with art and creative minds in practice.

So far, I have lived a busy behind-the-scenes life of research assisting, and archival and admin work. I was lucky to rediscover my passion for photography through an elective class at Columbia, as a psych/sociology and Eastern European regional studies student. Anytime I’m able to contribute or effectively interact with the art world, the environment is my most accommodating liaison: I researched dormant languages for environmental artist Betty Beaumont at the Art Research Collaboration studio, and more recently made some of my best shoots in the rather unlikely outdoor storage space of a giant supermarket. 

Even with the Book of College done and dusted, I still cannot speak very boldly about my future plans. They tend to jokingly disappear once you name them. You get the image of recklessly pulling a tablecloth from underneath a set table: that’s what’s going on with the world right now. The highlight of my education was writing a thesis exploring the social ecology of Carpathian Poland, Romania, and Ukraine within the framework of uneven interstate socioeconomic development and state jurisdictions. I hope to expand my research in the future. 

Regarding my wishes for the future, I’d like to be empowered to create wherever I go without having to feel like it’s a privilege. Participating in curation projects with The Creative Process is a start!

You can view some of my darkroom prints at the Columbia Visual Arts Online Exhibition here: https://www.springexhibition2020.arts.columbia.edu/photo/photo1sabater