SMKM

Hello, my name is Sarah Margaret Knox Moody. 

Welcome to Expressions! A large scale exhibition featuring multimedia works in which I express myself and engage with the world around me. 

I live between Erie, and Miami, Florida. I grew up in Miami, and spent summers in Erie with my large family and grandparents, enjoying the lake, fireflies, dewy grass, and beautiful flowers. I moved to Erie in 2017 after my sister passed away, and to raise my daughter. We return for long stretches of time annually to the southern Atlantic Ocean.

I have always used my creative energy to make art and engage with others. I love painting, drawing, collage, clay sculpture and pots, writing, and dedicated a lot of time to film photography at a young age. 

The work you see here today is a collection of pieces that tell the story of who I am as a woman today, and the variety of ways I have channelled my experience, emotions, and myself through painting, photography, portraiture, sculpture, and teaching. Most of the painting on display has been created in the last 18 months.  

Thank you for stopping by and viewing the work. 

Works included:

1. EXPRESSIONS, in red, 2018, acrylic on canvas, $333

2. Goddess cycles, as my womb fills, the 3 sisters, acrylic on canvas, started in Miami in 2017 and completed in Erie 2019 $777

3. BE the Warrior, Silver gelatin print, 2012 $444 framed, $222 print edition of 3

4. RAGE!, acrylic on canvas, 2020, $444

5. Collaborative painting with Stella, III, Joy, acrylic and ash on canvas, 2020, $555

6. See ya! Hasta Luego! Mother and daughter, acrylic on board, 2020, $88

7. Seated Goddess, acrylic on board, 2020, $88 or $111 for the duo

8. Collaborative painting with Stella, the first one, 2018, acrylic and crayon on canvas, $888

9. Stay in your lane, 2019, red ink on paper, $233

10. As the shadows illuminate, integrating and excavating, 2019, red ink on paper, $233

11. We made you with love, although short lived, you are the rainbow, my love, a star, $233 or $500 for the trio

12. Family Portrait in the Tropics, painted with Stella in Erie on the Bayfront at the green apartment, acrylic on canvas, 2020, $444

13. Shadow work with a toddler, acrylic on canvas, 2019, nfs

Shadow work is the contemplative practice of examining the parts of yourself ~ through your reactions to others, to experiences, etc. ~ especially those you do not like and accepting/ integrating/loving that part of yourself, too. It is facing the moments you did things out of fear, shame, guilt, codependency, grief, avoidance, etc and seeing that was an important part of your journey. There has been a lot of intensity in my life these last six years specifically that has required facing head on. 

I made this painting with Stella one warm late summer afternoon in our backyard. I remember the day felt very heavy, and we both needed an outlet for our emotions. And the opportunity to get our feet and hands dirty, and then run barefoot in the grass to rinse off with hose water. We probably picked some late tomatoes and ate them, juice running down our faces. I love working on large scale paintings with Stella. She makes deliberate choices, and loves to paint on top of certain parts of my contributions. I love to see color combinations. She has a great eye. She was about to be two when we made this one. 

Claire in the Annex gallery: 

Works included 1998 - 2012 

Claire, my younger sister and closest companion, became my muse during the early days exploring film photography. She has stayed a muse, as you see here, five years posthumous.  Documenting Claire helped me to develop as a photographer, and added extra richness to our relationship as sisters, allowing our bond to blossom to unique new depths. It was important for both of us as we grew, me as an artist and her as a woman, a fighter, and a lover of life. She was seen, and loved, and respected. 

In 2012, Claire was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare cancer starting in the bone. Watching her live, fight and eventually die, taught me how to live, and love. She reminded me that the important things in life are family, health, happiness, and love. As she always said (quoting the Grateful Dead), there’s nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile. 

14. Claire in the cornflowers, silver gelatin fiber print, $222

15. Claire collaged from Palm Island, 2006, silver gelatin prints, $333

16. The Un-itard, from Palm Island, our favorite of all, 2006, polaroids, not for sale

17. As she wants to see herself, the portrait i did not see until she was dead, i had never seen it before at all, the other negatives from that shoot are missing, Claire in Millbrook, 2009, silver gelatin print, $444 framed, $222 prints, limited edition

18. Claire, Surfers Beach, Eleuthera, The Bahamas, 2017, c-print, $288 framed, $111 print

19. Claire at the Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, 2013, silver gelatin print, not for sale

20. Claire on The McCain’s Boat, Lake Erie, 2010, c-print, $444 framed, $222 print

21. Claire, ‘I am the new Scince Teacher’, 1998, c-print, not for sale

Altar Space for Claire, Saint Claire and Saint Francis of Assisi, Mother Mary, and Stella - to our ancestors, our spirit guides, angels.

22. Be (Bald Eagle) seated at my apartment on Euclid, 2012, silver gelatin print, $333

23. Be on Euclid, 2012, silver gelatin print, $333

24. Be on Euclid, 2012, c-print, $333

25. Be on Euclid, 2012, c-print, $333

26. Claire waiting to board an Angel flight from Erie to NYC for treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering, 2015, not for sale

27. Claire in Mom’s wedding dress at Grandma and Gaga’s house, Christmas 2012, silver gelatin print, not for sale

28. Claire and Jerry at Grandma’s Funeral, March 2016, silver gelatin print, $444

29. Be and her eagle’s wings, at home in Erie, 2015, silver gelatin print, $444

30. Claire at Memorial Sloan Kettering, NYC, 2015, silver gelatin print, $444

The Power of Claire Books $50 - limited quantity remaining 

Visit YouTube and search Claire Moody memorial to see where it all began https://vimeo.com/178817700

And additional footage of Claire ;) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpHdQ_UB9vU

Sunflowers and The Uranian Phalanstery Wall - 

which includes description of Wings piece hanging on the gray wall behind the ladder

I have always loved sunflowers, from a young girl 5-6 years old wearing sunflower barrettes daily to always stopping at a sunflower field to document, to roam, to observe. I love growing them! I marvel at their expansiveness. These images span many years and countries, and show the life of a sunflower. Plus a beautiful painting Claire made :) 

Uranian Phalanstery, New York City 

I made these two works - and others - as documentation of my time at the UP in New York City’s Lower East Side. I was lucky enough to be a part of the excavation process of the UP as it prepared to move from its home of forty years to a new location in the Upper West Side. 

The Uranian Phalanstery was two townhouses joined together by a beautiful garden. It was held together by a patchwork of the many hands and souls that had passed through the space since the 60s when Richard Tyler and Dorothea Baer moved in. They made artwork, cultivated community, celebrated through ritual and ceremony, and created constantly. 

I arrived when Medi and Dorothea had decided to sell the buildings and move to another space uptown. The massive pursuit of excavating the buildings, and archiving the work appropriately for the move, plus getting rid of the many years of accumulated things. There was a room filled floor to ceiling with chairs. There were rooms piled with so many things you saw many years of various activities, only at the end to find a small wood carving studio shared by several hands. 

Wings 

Color photographs, sewing, wire, feathers (found on site), made and left on site

We prepared to have the last show. I was curious about this sunlit green room for a few weeks when I finally ventured to find it. The living room in front of it was full of couches and furniture on top of each other. A maze. I got through it and found this room - a great pause. There were so many dried bouquets and stacks of yellowed newspapers. I left it basically as i found it and hung the wings. I sewed my photographs which were underwater, in the waves. I found blue and white feathers in the building and sewed those on. It was a document of the euphoric feeling of being weightless in a wave mirrored as the feeling of flying, of soaring through the wind. 

Medi in the Garden

We spent so much time out here, enjoying the oasis from bustling NYC. Old bricks paved the road and garden things tucked everywhere. Medi would draw and paint sunflowers, and there were often sunflowers around. A flower I have loved since childhood (see Sunflower Series for more on this). There was a large bamboo patch which swayed in the breeze, as tall as the buildings. A woodworking friend built a bridge with found materials into the bamboo with a platform so you could stand within it. 

31. Wings, the only documentation of this installation that is left. 2010, c-print, 2011

32. Medi at the Uranian Phalanstery, Lower East Side, New York City, c-print, 2011, 

33. Triptych from the Loire Valley, France, 2011, Fujifilm instant print, $555

34. Painting of a home I want to live in one day, 2020, watercolor on paper, $77

35. Sunflowers by Claire Moody, 5-5-05, not for sale

36. Sunflower performance, the three betrayals, Saint Marks Place, NYC, 2011, c-print, damaged print, unique, $122 

37. Sunflowers at the UP, 2011, c-print, $111

38. The end of the harvest, the life of a Sunflower, 2011, c-print, $144

It was a sad time, the Expressions wall

This is the first time I have publicly displayed my latest works - and color stories, hanging alongside my photography. I have played with mixed medium works on the same wall many times before when curating group shows. It is always a joy to create conversation between works, and artists - it is how I tell stories.  

On this wall, I am hanging paintings I made by myself and in collaboration with my nearly 4 year old daughter Stella in 2020. We started on our first day of quarantine after returning from a 12 day visit to Miami, and Covid hit. We painted most days that year, as we had been doing since she was about eighteen months old. I turned more to painting, drawing, and sculpting in clay when I was pregnant with Stella because my photography is so based in the darkroom. 

The works on the wall are really a reflection of my creative and emotional process - as the two are very much intertwined, one in the same. And the expressions that came out of me while my young daughter and I were in quarantine together, painting.

39. Self portrait on Saint Marks, 2010, digital c-print made from the negative of a pull apart medium format polaroid, unique, $777 

Taken with a peel-apart polaroid, left overnight, and scanned only the negative side to create this collage. The dust and particles that gathered while it sat and dried for hours.

This was the first time I really turned the camera onto myself and took the time to connect in that space. I had always used my sister, Claire, and others as a mirror to catalog my life - so this connection opened the gateway to a deepening of my work. I was painting goddesses at this time too, in my 5th floor walk up apartment on Saint Marks Place btween 1 Ave / Ave A in the East Village of New York City. 

40.  As i am, 2020, acrylic on paper, $50

41. The inside of my brain, made after a very difficult day with her father, a way of coping, with gold and glitter, an expression, 2018, fabric and puffy paint on canvas, $111

42. On fire, practicing kundalini kriyas, (in relation to 68) 2020, watercolor on paper, $60 or duo for $100

43. A Goddess in the womb, made in Miami, 2017, acrylic on canvas, $144

44. Golden Goddess, 2019, puffy paint and Sharpie on canvas, $144, from a series of 7

45. As above, so below, our house on Palm Island, 2010, silver gelatin diptych, $222 

46. Family portrait, 2020, watercolor and colored pencil on paper, $50

47. Open your eyes, 2020, watercolor on paper, $50

48. The sun, and moon, a cycle, 2020, watercolor on paper, $77

49. Family portrait in the tropics, 2021, acrylic on canvas, $222 

50. Pink smoke triptych, 2016, c-prints, $444 

51. Family portrait, 2020, watercolor on paper, $88 

52. Family portrait from day one of quarantine, 2020, watercolor on paper, $88

Pink Smoke 

September 4, 2016 

We held a birthday party for Claire, as her 25th birthday was only a few days after she died. We held it at The Farm, a beautiful property on Elk Creek owned by family members, which was one of her favorite places in the world. We bought as many pink smoke bombs as we could fit in the cars, a blooming pink japanese cherry willow to plant, cake mix and pink frosting, Smith’s hotdogs, lots of beer, water, our tents, and several flannel shirts. Everyone who loved her and was available came down. We had a ritual for her, sang happy birthday, and planted the tree. We lit the pink smoke bombs and burned sage ~ allowing the smoke to carry our grief up to the heavens.  The oven wouldn’t work to bake the cake, so we put it on the barbeque. We sang loudly, cried a lot, and told stories. We mourned together. We healed. We celebrated Claire. 

I painted these in late 2016 which opened the gateway to most of the paintings on display here. They reignited my passion for painting and expressing through the act of brush to canvas/page. 

53. Hidden beneath the blooming flowers, 2020, watercolor on paper, $50 

54. Pink smoke triptych paintings, 2016, gouache on canvas, $122 each or $300 for the trio 

55. Kundalini rising, starting from the root, 2020, watercolor on paper, $188 

56. Stella’s color story, blues and pink, 2020, acrylic on canvas board, nfs

57. Three sisters, 2020, acrylic on canvas, $277

58. Pink smoke, 2016, archival inkjet print, $333 framed, $144 print edition of 3, second run, custom size available

59. It was a sad time, 2020, watercolor on paper, $50

60. Stella Blue, I, 2020, acrylic on canvas, $50

61. Claire underwater in blue, 2012, c-print collage, unique, $444 

62. The feeling of being under the Atlantic in summer time, 2020, acrylic on canvas, $99 

63. Ocean feelings, 2020, acrylic on canvas board, $99 

64. Har Hare Haree, mantra/kriya study, focused on creative seed, 2021, acrylic on canvas, $111

65. Beach duo, 2021, acrylic on canvas, $77 each or $122 for pair 

66. Claire at the southernmost top of Briland, 2009, archival inkjet print, $200

67. Cleansing the field, the arclines, the subtle body, feeling refreshed in deep contemplation and relaxation, 2020, watercolor on paper, $99 or duo (with 42) for $144

68. Stella Blue, II, 2020, acrylic on canvas, $99 

69. Moon cycle, solar eclipse portal, triptych, 2021, acrylic on canvas, $60 each or $188 for trio

70. Bahamian summer diptych, pink sands beach, 2010, archival inkjet print, $200 

71. Diving in, solar eclipse portal, 2021, acrylic on canvas, $144 

72. Stella’s color story, 2020, acrylic on canvas, $66 

73. Kids Running, Speed of Dreams, 2010, archival inkjet print, $333

74. Water in Dubai, 2009, archival inkjet print, $333 framed, $222 print edition of 7 

75. Money manifestation, make it rain! 2020, watercolor on paper, $111 

76. Trees, a long time study, 2020, watercolor on paper, $50

77. 10,000 islands, a timeless mangrove wilderness, 2012, archival inkjet print diptych, $333 

78. On the road with Be, 2013, fujifilm instant film triptych, $555 

79. A gathering, solar eclipse portal, 2021, acrylic on canvas, $222 

80. Stella’s color story, 2020, acrylic and glitter paint on canvas, $66 

81. Seated goddess, settling into heart chakra, 2021, acrylic on canvas, $200

82. Wide awake and on my way, 2020, acrylic on canvas, $250 - (hanging inside the bathroom)

83. Bye, 2020! You have it all, acrylic on canvas, $333

84. Blue goddess, puffy paint and Sharpie on canvas, 2019, series of 7, $222

85. Green goddess, puffy paint and sharpie on canvas, 2019, series of 7, $222

Ceramic Sculptures 

Goddess pieces 

These are from my personal collection - and others in my family - which deserve to be shown and seen as inspiration for a commission for your goddess. Those that are for sale are marked. Some of these are reflections of me and Stella, mother and daughter, and my sister and I. Pricing starts at $77

Animals 

I have been working on a Noah’s ark collection for Stella for a couple years now, and love making animals. Commissions of animals, or your pet available. Accepting offers on current display. Pricing starts at $77

Bowls 

I love throwing them! These are some that I use in my own rituals and daily life. I will make you your own altar bowl if you desire. Pricing starts at $44

Contemplative Yoga

I graduated in May as a certified 500 hr yoga and contemplative meditation teacher through Live Lightly. I am elated to begin my teaching practice in this space within this community. Thank you for sharing the space with me, and for taking time to heal, it matters! Private sessions available for individual or groups. Please email sarah@1020collective.com for more information

Expression Sessions 

Happening twice weekly (for now) as a time for adults and children to play with visual art materials and allow stress to fall away and emotions to flow through and out onto the page or into the clay. I love this work and this time together. If you are working on a project, please bring it. I will have materials provided for a fee. 

Moody Handmade 

Works were all made in 2021 

Started in collaboration with my sister, Claire, officially in 2012 - though we worked on this for many years prior. We would make cards with hand stamped imagery and many many bracelets. We were hired twice to make custom bracelets for movies. Claire loved making simple wooden beaded bracelets with skulls and precious stones. After she passed, I organized her beads and made them in her memory. It’s a special time for me to express my love for her - and the world - and life - while I string beads together. Each one made with intention and thoughtfulness for the wearer. Using wood, glass, and crystal beads as a love letter - for love, protection, guidance, fun! Personal expression inward and outward. 

It is one of my greatest joys to give my love to another through an object that I made - so this part of my practice is extremely special. It involves an exchange for the wearer and myself. Each piece includes a handwritten note detailing the meaning behind the piece, what beads are included and their purpose. More often than not the piece fits “perfectly”.

Thank you, thank you, sat nam