Artist Biography

Sarah Koch is an illustrator, designer, and educator that enjoys focusing on color, contrast, and design in her artwork.  She is a metro Detroit native that juxtaposes traditional mediums and subject matter with contemporary techniques and design. 

Her artwork depicts a variety of subjects and mediums.  She often creates using mixed media processes and depict traditional subject matters like the human figure, portraiture, and still lives in a visually interesting way.  She uses collage and painting as her primary mediums in her art practice.

Sarah graduated in 2016 with her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration. Additionally, she received her Teaching Certification in Secondary Visual Arts Education from College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI.  She currently resides in the Metro-Detroit area where she has transitioned from being a full-time visual arts teacher to a full-time graphic designer and artist.

She has exhibited and sold her artwork in solo and group exhibitions for the past 7 years within Michigan and out of state.  In her spare time, she exhibits in gallery exhibitions shows, art competitions, and vendor events. Sarah enjoys the process of creating immensely and works toward dedicating as much time as possible to her craft.

Artist Statement

As an artist and on an individual level, Sarah is drawn to learning about people and the world around her.  Her curious nature inspires her work as she seeks out information on current events, pop culture, and various people that interest her on a regular basis.  This curiosity and love of learning are some of the driving forces for her creative process.   Sarah accesses different platforms and resources for her artwork such as: news articles, video, documentaries, music, lectures, interviews, books, and movies.  

Much of her visual inspirations and aesthetics come from music, fashion, color, and various forms of art. She physically and figuratively collage images together through combining different mixed media in her artwork.  This develops a unique sense of imagery, techniques, and ideas in her artwork.  Sarah often gather collage materials from various sources and combines it with her original paintings and drawings.

 The subject matter of Sarah’s work focuses on a variety of traditional subjects like the human figure, portraiture, and still lives using multimedia processes.  She uses collage as a tool to convey a story or information about the subject that she is depicting in her artwork.  Both the materials and subject matter used to create the image are equally significant.  For her, collage and mixed media processes are an interesting way to visually combine materials from different origins and contexts to create something new. 

Sarah’s personal interests and current people of interest in the world often inform the subject matter of her artwork.  As the times change and evolve, her artwork evolves along with it.  Sarah showcases different subject matters while developing new personal styles and techniques with it over time.