Sarah Hinckley Interview, September 28th, 2021

In the Studio with Sarah Hinckley

September 28th, 2021

Sarah Hinckley, discusses her artistic process, her inspiration, and her objectives in a virtual interview with CBCA.

Hinckley is a painter living and working in Yarmouthport on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Her work is in numerous corporate and private collections. She received an M.F.A. from Columbia University with a concentration in painting, a B.F.A. from Tufts University and a diploma from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

CBCA: What artist and movements have influenced your work?

SH: The American painters Mark Rothko and Agnes Martin, the 19^th century German Romantic landscape painter Caspar David Friedrich and the late paintings of Monet are just a few of the painters who have been inspiration. The formalist painters of the 60’s challenged my visual imagination and led me to explore greater depth in my work.

CBCA: Is there a reason you use different mediums in your work?

SH: I make oil paintings and watercolors. The oil painting process is slowed down because I wait for each layer and section to dry before I go back in. In the oils, I can linger over the thinking process because of drying time. The watercolors dry quickly and so decisions and responses can happen quickly and can be more spontaneous.

CBCA: Describe the motivations behind your work.

SH: Painting is my thinking process. I approach painting intuitively, mapping out ideas and inspiration into color fields and marks. I spend time editing them in and out.
This process allows me to continually search for new directions, a new color relationship, or something unexpected and beautiful.

CBCA: What are you trying to communicate with your art?

SH: I hope the final object becomes something beautiful for the viewer to be inspired by … and a bit challenging.

CBCA: How do you make work that is authentic and honest to your process while still addressing the requirements of a project?

SH: A commission process is a bit like a performance. The size and some colors are pre-determined but everything else is left up to me. I consider the color restraints and size variations like having a color assignment. A commission can led to new directions. A client must love my work and be willing to take the risk.