Sabina Streeter
“Once They Were Here, Where We are Now”
Artist Statement
Sabina Streeter is a contemporary artist who draws with a vision that transcends political, social and economic boundaries. Her portraits, which are based in classical traditions, include an extraordinarily diverse range of contemporary and historical figures.
Streeter enlarges reality, then cuts to the emotional with an unblinking clarity of detail. Her work dramatizes issues of history, popular culture, and universal longing. The freely gestural strokes are executed in charcoal, pastel, gouache and oil and result in a movement between figurative painting and abstraction.
In the wake of the recent coronavirus pandemic, Streeter’s work has expanded to include the exploration of historically contextualized landscape and architecture.
As Alanna Heiss, founder of MoMA PS1, observes, “Sabina’s work has a unique conceptual content and an aura of cool detachment that is ironic without being jaded or exaggerated. If I had to choose one living artist to distill my likeness on canvas, it would be her.”
“Installation featuring portraits from the historical exhibition Sister Sailors & Sons of Sag Harbor.”, 2022
Photo (credit: Bryan Derballa for The New York Times).
Biography
Sabina Streeter was born in Munich, Germany to a family of writers and architects. She lives and works in Sag Harbor, New York. Streeter’s work is in public and private collections throughout the US and Europe.