In Sara Anstis’ atmospheric drawings, figures are engaged in intriguing activities, such as being absorbed by a bookcase or wrapped in a green sleeping bag under a makeshift tent. Some navigate a bathtub equipped with oars, while others rest in beds piled like pancakes. Her work weaves together mysterious narratives, nursery rhymes, art historical references, and ancient symbols into captivating and unusual scenes.
Anstis creates a timeless ambiance in the small-scale pieces of her solo exhibition Pastels at Olney Gleason. In recent years, her color palette has shifted to muted, autumnal tones, moving away from the vibrant, saturated colors with a nearly neon glow of her earlier work. She has recently drawn inspiration from art history, especially medieval and early Renaissance pieces.
Figures in works like “The Horse Rider” display stoic, three-quarter profiles reminiscent of the 15th-century styles of Fra Angelico and Hans Memling. “The Painter” incorporates the medieval tradition of placing saints at the feet of holy figures, depicting women who look reverently not only at a female artist but also at the empowering depiction of a woman’s form.
Another recurring motif is the animal imagery associated with Leonardo da Vinci’s “Lady with an Ermine.” Anstis’ tributes, though small in scale, are rich in acknowledging women with diverse talents and interests, including motherhood.
The theme of motherhood is evident throughout the exhibition, partly influenced by German artist Paula Modersohn-Becker’s 1906 painting “Self-Portrait at 6th Wedding Anniversary.” Soft pastels serve as both a symbolic and practical medium, constructing compositions that delve into the dreamlike and the blurred edges of folk tales. “Three heads in a bed” evokes the nursery rhyme “Ten in the Bed,” often sung as “Three in the Bed.”
Fascinated by mythology and subjectivity, Anstis depicts figures and symbolic objects in surreal environments. Some artworks adhere to traditional portraiture, while others present an array of mysterious, narrative elements. In “The Milkman,” two disembodied arms cradle a small dog around a woman’s shoulders, while in “Lachrymatories,” a contemplative woman walks past a display of numerous small vials, which in ancient Greece and Rome were used for perfumes and were thought to collect mourners’ tears, thus earning the name “tear bottles.”
According to the gallery, Anstis’ use of pastels preserves “an intimate sense of touch that charges her scenes with introspective intensity.” The women in her pieces are fully immersed in their environments, emotionally and physically engaging in activities like horseback riding, reading, or painting. Throughout, she conjures an aura of reverence, suggesting an underlying ritual or observance, glimpsed only partially. Anstis embraces the absurd and slightly cartoonish, channeling the alluring irrationality of dreams and imagination.
Pastels is on display through October 24 in New York City. For more of the artist’s work, visit her Instagram.
