Interview with Sarah Boyts Yoder
Sarah Boyts Yoder is a painter based in Charlottesville, VA. She received a BFA in Painting from Eastern New Mexico University in 2003 and an MFA in painting
from James Madison University in 2006. Her work has been featured in numerous publications and exhibitions throughout the US including the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art. She was awarded a professional fellowship in painting from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and has twice been a fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Boyts Yoder has also been awarded an artistic residency at 100W Corsicana in Corsicana, Texas, her home state, each year since 2017. In 2019 she had her first international exhibition in Sydney, Australia. Boyts Yoder is represented by Page Bond Gallery in Richmond, VA, by Show & Tell Art & Design in Charleston, SC, by Blue Print Gallery in Dallas, TX and by Jen Tough Gallery, based in Santa Fe, NM.
Favorite quote: Look what there is to have, for awhile at least, here in this dangerous world - David Searcy
*excerpted from the essay, Still Life Painting, from his book of essays, Shame and Wonder
Another favorite quote:
I am made of everything I have seen
- Matisse
Where do you dream of going someday?
Cartagena, Colombia
What artists have influenced your work?
Georgia O'Keefe, Elizabeth Murray, Amy Sillman, Louise Bourgeois, Robert Motherwell, Arturro Herrera.
Best experiences in life so far?
One of the most joyful and pure experiences in my life is salsa dancing. In that space I find improvisation and quick thinking, experiments in communication and collaboration, unselfconsciousness, freedom, joy and feelings of deep expression and connection to self and others. It's similar to the things I also find in my studio practice and I apply all those lessons in both spaces.
What’s on your bucket list?
My own big, bright, dreamy studio at home
Vacationing/traveling across Europe (including Greece) with my husband after our kids are grown
To be able to keep working hard and creating throughout my life
