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Postponing Real Life

Wes Hill Interviews Sarah Contos 

Wes Hill
Eyeline 91
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The work of Perth-based artist Sarah Contos revolves around textiles, bringing unexpected mystique and glamour to an assortment of sculptural assemblages. Winner of the inaugural $100,000 Ramsay Art Prize in 2017, Contos draws from fashion, film history and archival documentation, slipping easily between costume designer, set designer and installation artist. In early 2019, Wes Hill caught up with Sarah whilst she was in residence at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, during a period of quiet reflection on new ideas and directions for her practice, informed by her experiences overseas.

Wes Hill:How’s Paris? Have you seen anything yet that you might follow-up on in future work?

Sarah Contos:I love Paris. It’s honestly a hard place not to love. It’s a perfect city for me. The history, the aesthetics, the attitude; they all resonate with what I want from a city and what I’m looking for in terms of ‘state of mind’ and art production. I think residencies are about escaping who you are and what you do at home. There’s nothing like a new city to shed skin, put you on a new course and readjust your view of the world and your place in it. It can be confronting as well as liberating, and Paris is the perfect place for that.

WH: What have you been up to whilst you’ve been there?

SC:Basically until now I’ve been visiting all the museums and contemporary art spaces, flea markets and cinema. Anything that relates to my practice, I’m seeking it out. I’ve been playing more in the studio than anything else. I bought a sewing machine on the second day I arrived and I’ve been sewing paintings... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline

Sarah Contos. The Long Kiss Goodbye, 2016

The Long Kiss Goodbye, 2016. Screen-print on linen, canvas and lamé, digital printed fabrics and various found fabrics, globes, PVC, poly-fil, glass, ceramic and plastic beads,
thread, artists’ gloves, 610×330×25cm. Courtesy the artist, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney and Station, Melbourne.

Sarah Contos. This is Not a Love Song, 2017

This is Not a Love Song, 2017. Installation views, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne.