Sarnia de la Maré FRSA has been a professional studio artist for many years working on individual performance art projects and collaborations. She is currently a Saatchi Artist working with experimental digital processes
Sarnia was the founder of the BAC (Brighton Arts Club and Goddamn Media in Brighton curating regular shows with radical concepts. She also managed the workshops and studios. Goddamn Media was a radio station where Sarnia broadcast DJ sets and weekly interviews with the town's poets and musicians.
'....The problem with managing the studios was that I was so busy with the business side of things and had no time for the creative projects. But we did some groundbreaking projects and events. I was the official photographer so I got some incredible images.'
After the demise of the BAC and Goddamn Media Sarnia began portrait painting.
'There were a lot of dogs and children and I did a spell using watercolour. But being a jobbing artist doing the same thing over and over again made me feel as if I was working in a factory.'
In 2020 Sarnia received funding from the Future's Venture Foundation for artist's development. But although her 'Dominartist' Exhibition was cancelled due to Covid, the funding enable Sarnia to finance a music studio marking another turnaround in processes fusing music and images for the Immersion Books series.
'The introduction of AI was terrific in the earlier stages of its imaging development. I loved how AI made ridiculous mistakes and decided to use these bizarre creations in my digital drawings. By now I was creating illustrations for an immersive reader experience with music and art that had more of a cerebral intensity,I bought an iPad and never looked back. I now produce nearly all my work using a digital pen with Procreate. I don't use AI really as it seemed to become one dimensional and no longer gave me the juxtapose crazy concepts it did when it was immature. Besides, sometimes it would take days to do something with AI I could paint on my iPad.'
Sarnia began writing the Book of Immersion series in 2020 and has been working towards publication in 2024.
'The book of Immersion is now available as a weekly series as an animated musical video. It is a very disciplined process and I have adopted a more constructive process for the productions. When you have deadlines, even if they are self imposed, you need to be organised.'
You can purchase limited editions and open editions of imaging, film stills, book covers and storytelling illustrations from the Immersion Books at Saatchi.
Links to some of the artworks currently available for sale at Saatchi
https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/2090619
https://www.saatchiart.com/servalan
https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Digital-Little-Runners-Strata-4/2090619/11753405/view
https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Digital-Mono-Girl/2090619/11744591/view
https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Digital-Teddies-no-1/2090619/11686979/view
https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Digital-Little-China-Girls/2090619/11582951/view
https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Digital-Cat-Lady/2090619/11582863/view
https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Digital-Interior-Thinking/2090619/11552593/view
