Sarah Haviland

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My sculptures strike a balance between abstract form and human identity. Rooted in gesture, they embody layers of distilled emotion and archetypal presence.These simplified figures acknowledge contradictions, combining strength and subtlety, movement and stability, ancient and contemporary outlooks.

Recent works focus on human-bird hybrids, echoing worldwide mythological bird-figures relating to the soul. They reflect religious and shamanic traditions as well as contemporary psychological states, probing the anthropomorphic impulse itself.

Others sculptures use mirrors, reflected light, and glittering wire mesh to activate surface and create transparencies and radiance within. The use of mirrors, which alludes to our relationship to self- image, can also open vistas to other worlds, calling up mythic associations of reflection, visionary knowledge, and transcendence.

PUBLIC ART & COMMISSIONS

Governor’s Island, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists’Coalition, Brooklyn, NY, “Reflection Bench,” 2010

Chesterwood, MA, Richard Klein, Juror, “Blue Immortality,” 2010

SculptureNow, Lee, MA, “I Saw the Wind Within Her,” 2010

Hudson Highlands Land Trust, Garrison, NY, “Habitat for Birds,” 2010

Fulton-Ferry State Park, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists’ Coalition, Brooklyn, NY, “Phoenix,” 2009

Habitat for Artists, Historic Huguenot Street, New Paltz, NY, “Bird-Making Habitat,” 2009

Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY, “Public Tile Project,” 2008-2009               

Peekskill Project IV, Peekskill, NY, “Reflection Bench,” Riverfront Green, 2008

Collaborative Concepts at Saunders Farm, Garrison, NY, “Inward Sky” installation, 2007

Peekskill Project III, Peekskill, NY, “Portraits in Miniature” Field Library installation, 2006      

Casola Gallery, Peekskill Project II, Peekskill, NY, “Inner Light” installation, 2005      

John Jay College, NYC , ”Invisible/Invincible” installation, curator Thalia Vrachopoulos, 2005 

Peekskill Project, Peekskill, NY, “Looking Glass House” installation, curator Sue Stoffel, 2004 

Arts Exchange, White Plains, NY, “Copper Beech: People’s Trust,” NEA commission, 2003 

Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ, “Trio” bronze commission, 2001 

DeSanti Plaza Sculpture Garden, Hartsdale, NY, “Pier Glass” installation, 2000 

Puffin Foundation, Teaneck, NJ, “Dreaming the Universe” installation, 2000 

Crittenden Middle School, Armonk, NY, “Aspire” comm. by Byram Hills Education Fdn., 1999 

Osteopathic Office, Sharon, CT, commission for Tabletop fountain “Body of Water,” 1994 

Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, NY, “Queens Arch” comm. by  New York City Parks Dept., 1991 

Symphony Space and the Medicine Show, NYC, Theater Set Designs commission, 1986

Theological School, Drew University, Madison, NJ, Alumna Portraits commission, 1983