Sara Willadsen

Sara Willadsen
Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA

STATEMENT

This work was created during my 2025 ARTservancy residency at Huiras Lake State Natural Area in Southeast Wisconsin. I spent the year walking, observing, and documenting its unique landscape of lake, hardwood forest, conifer swamp, and open prairie, a source of endless inspiration and depth. Working primarily with paint, collage, and mixed media, I allowed the environment to guide my practice both visually and conceptually, shaping a new body of work that responds directly to this space. These repeated encounters were then translated into tactile, abstract compositions shaped by seasonal shifts, enduring plant life, and the textures of the land.

Using rubbings, photographic references, laser-cut forms, and layered materials, I constructed surfaces that reflect both the physical environment and my evolving relationship to it. The work is not a literal record of the site, but a series of fragmented reflections rooted in memory, material, and sustained attention, and a reminder to slow down and consider the value of protected natural spaces.

BIO

Sara Willadsen received her master of fine arts in painting from Northern Illinois University in 2014 and her bachelor of arts in studio art and graphic arts from Lakeland University in 2010. Working mainly with paint and various collage elements, Willadsen’s work explores concepts of abstract spaces and objects guided by her surroundings. She has had work featured in New American Paintings and shows frequently in regional and national exhibitions. Willadsen currently works as a visual artist and graphic designer in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

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