{"id":613219,"date":"2026-09-11T21:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T21:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/613219\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T21:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T21:38:12","slug":"sara-anstis-soft-pastels-summon-mythology-dreams-and-the-renaissance-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/613219\/","title":{"rendered":"Sara Anstis’ Soft Pastels Summon Mythology, Dreams, and the Renaissance \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"

A figure appears to have been subsumed by a bookcase, and another is swathed in a green sleeping bag beneath a makeshift tent. Whether navigating a bathtub fitted with oars or sleeping in a bed while stacked like pancakes, the figures in Sara Anstis<\/a>\u2019 atmospheric drawings are immersed in curious activities. Hints of mysterious narratives, nursery rhymes, art historical iconography, and ancient symbolism make their way into enchanting and peculiar tableaux.<\/p>\n

Anstis conjures a timeless air in the small-scale works of her solo show Pastels at Olney Gleason<\/a>. Over the past couple of years, her palette has shifted to more muted, autumnal tones in contrast to her earlier works that featured vibrant, saturated hues and an almost glowing, neon quality. Recently, she\u2019s looked to art history, particularly medieval and early Renaissance works.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cErmine\u201d (2026), pastel on paper, 13 3\/8 x 18 1\/8 inches<\/p>\n

The stoic, three-quarter profiles of figure in \u201cThe Horse Rider,\u201d for example, reflects expressions seen in the 15th-century work of the likes of Fra Angelico<\/a> and Hans Memling<\/a>. \u201cThe Painter\u201d ties in the medieval art tradition of placing saints at the foot of a holy figure, this time depicted as women peering reverently not only toward a female artist but the empowering drawn likeness of a woman\u2019s form.<\/p>\n

Another recurring animal motif we closely associate with Leonardo da Vinci and his masterpiece \u201cLady with an Ermine<\/a>.\u201d For Anstis, these tributes are small in scale but rich in the recognition of women with a variety of talents and interests, not the least of which include motherhood.<\/p>\n

The maternal theme emerges in works throughout the exhibition, influenced partly by German artist Paula Modersohn-Becker\u2019s 1906 painting \u201cSelf-Portrait at 6th Wedding Anniversary<\/a>.\u201d Soft pastels are a symbolic and practical medium, building compositions that explore the fuzziness of dreams and the blurred edges of folk stories. \u201cThree heads in a bed,\u201d for example, brings to mind the nursery rhyme \u201cTen in the Bed,<\/a>\u201d which is sometimes sung as \u201cThree in the Bed.\u201d <\/p>\n

Long interested in mythology and subjectivity, Anstis renders figures and symbolic objects amid surreal settings. Some works adhere more closely to the conventions of portraiture while others reveal an array of enigmatic, narrative elements. Two disembodied arms hold a small dog around a woman\u2019s shoulders in \u201cThe Milkman,\u201d for instance, and a pensive woman walks by a display of numerous tiny vials in \u201cLachrymatories,\u201d which in ancient Greece and Rome were used to hold perfumes but were once thought to collect mourners\u2019 tears, earning them the name \u201ctear bottles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cThe Painter\u201d (2026), pastel on paper, 9 7\/8 x 8 1\/4 inches<\/p>\n

Through the use of pastels, Anstis retains \u201can intimate sense of touch that charges her scenes with introspective intensity,\u201d the gallery says. The women in her works fully embody their surroundings, both emotionally and physically connecting to their activities, be it horseback riding, reading, or painting. Throughout, she evokes an air of veneration, as if to every scene there is some underlying rite or observance of which we\u2019re only seeing a fragment. The artist tips her hat to the absurd, even the slightly cartoonish, tapping into the seductive irrationality of dreams and the imagination.<\/p>\n

Pastels is on view through October 24 in New York City. See more on the artist\u2019s Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cThe Horse Rider\u201d (2026), pastel on paper, 11 1\/8 x 8 7\/8 inches<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cThe Milkman\u201d (2026), pastel on paper, 10 5\/8 x 9 inches<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cLibrary\u201d (2026), pastel on paper, 12 3\/4 x 10 3\/8 inches<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cLachrymatories\u201d (2025), pastel on paper, 8 1\/8 x 6 1\/4 inches<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cThree heads in a bed\u201d (2025), pastel on paper, 4 1\/4 x 5 5\/8 inches<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cTent\u201d (2025), pastel on paper, 8 x 10 1\/4 inches<\/p>\n

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