In Sarah, Dancy combines ominous text with black ink and designs, perfectly embodying her iconic combination of beauty and tension. The four plates function together to create a sense of emptiness, while simultaneously creating a sense of organized chaos. The written text in three plates leads the viewer to associate the fourth plate with language, though it does not incorporate any written text. The viewer may construe the fourth plate to depict some sort of morse code.
The words “pickled beets” and “stained a dark crimson heart” create an unnerving sense of inexplicable violence, while a floating hand writes the name “Sarah.” Diagonal from the Sarah plate is a list of other names, making the viewer wonder why the name Sarah was highlighted and why the name was chosen for the title. The minimalist black ink medium, coupled with the ominous subject matter, makes the piece mysteriously somber.
~ Lucy Siegel, Student at Bowdoin College, Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Government and Legal Studies, Center for Art Law Summer 2020 Intern.
