The following conversation covers her practice and unique use of fabric, as well as her experience working at Meow Wolf, followed by a a short Q&A.
This work started with an impossible ask from a theatre company. They wanted costume components that could expand and contract and I didn’t know how to do it, so I took the job. The accordion, honeycomb fabric that came out of that project has become a focus of my sculptural practice as I continue to be fascinated with its strange beauty and possibility.
These forms are made from cloth, sliced into discrete pieces and reorganized, a slight reconfiguration that transforms it entirely. From start to finish it is a material of contrasts. The process of making it is meticulous and repetitive, yet the installation can be quite intuitive. Though it can be easily manipulated, it is most intriguing in its unexpected self-organization. Expressing weight and lightness, sheerness and density, it’s complexity emerges from simple repeating forms. It is not a singular sculpture but and endless configuration. More than anything, I have a deep affinity for its rhythmic physicality, and the intensity of looking that it invites.
Sarah Bradley is a multidisciplinary artist living in Santa Fe New Mexico. Her practice spans writing, audio, sculpture, installation, and costume and she has worked collaboratively with a variety of artists, written extensively on photobooks and co-runs the Santa Fe art and music venue Etiquette. Bradley is a Creative Director at Meow Wolf and a co-host of the Too Sick podcast.
