Artworks by Littlestown native Sarah Jacobs will be on display at the Adams County Arts Council (ACAC) Gallery from June 1 through August 26. The opening reception will be on Friday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
The work, from Jacob’s “The Cave” and “Depth” Series are part of an exhibition entitled Homecoming.
Jacobs’ work will also be found in the windows of the Grant Building in Gettysburg and her series entitled “The Carnival,” which features portraits of the artist’s friends and family, will be hosted at the Majestic Theater Gallery.
Jacobs will present a gallery tour at the Majestic Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Jacobs studied art history at Gettysburg College and earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. She then moved to the United Kingdom for over three years before returning to the US to pursue her art career and teach.
Her work has been exhibited in the US and in Europe and she has taken part in artist residencies in Germany, Colombia, and New Mexico. She has won multiple grants, including the Arts Council England Grant, and her work can be found in public and private collections in the US, UK, and Hong Kong.
Jacob’s multi-media paintings play with the figure/ground relationship using design principles, and range in scale and size. The collection of artworks featured at the ACAC combines a variety of colors, patterns, and media.
“I am interested in patterns for what they represent metaphorically, and for what they can do aesthetically. I see visual patterns as representing modes of thought or patterns of living. We each categorize and frame the mystery of existence in unique ways that can be expressed with symbols,” said Jacobs.
“To design an artwork, I embark first on research of the concepts I will address and then search for imagery that I believe can be used symbolically to get those ideas across. I then design patterns incorporating some of this imagery, some of which may be rendered in a stylized, graphic, or cartoonish way.”
Jacobs said “The Carnival” was created at a time when people “needed something positive” and gave those involved “the opportunity to show what they like most about themselves.” Jacobs began the project in the heart of the pandemic lockdown by conducting interviews with her subjects on self-perception and meaningful colors and symbols in their lives.
The resulting portraits integrate symbols important to her smiling subjects into colorful patterns characteristic of her work. Jacobs said she called the series “The Carnival” in reference to Littlestown’s end of the summer carnival where she fondly remembers a sense of reunion.
“The Cave” and “The Depth” series, to be featured at the ACAC, include themes of deception and volume. Works by Jacob’s mother Robyn Jacobs will also be displayed at the ACAC and the two will use the hallway that separates their exhibits to jointly display an image depicting the pair from the younger Jacobs’ childhood. The pair will give a joint artist talk on Thursday, June 9, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Jacobs said the opportunity to show her work in Adams County, and adjacent to her mother’s, allows her to “bring it back” and share her art with those who really know her.
The ACAC opening and Majestic Gallery tour are both free and open to the public.
View Jacob’s artwork here.
George Malian is a third year political science and international & global studies major at Gettysburg College. A native of Providence, Rhode Island, George enjoys reading nonfiction and listening to live music in his free time.