My work comes from the edge of the forest and the edge of the sea, and is informed by shadow, light, and the landscape. Found magic and realism are comrades in my practice. When I am not photographing, I work with a wood and carrageenan mixture, similar to bioplastic that becomes what it wants to be. The bio-plastic’s stability is more than enough and it is compostable. Inspired by storytelling, I have built a library of sculptures to assemble installations. Shapes recombine, to tell other stories, like words or ideas in a sentence. My studio is a place of making, and growing - all at once.
Often my practice is dictated by sense making - the process of figuring out a ridiculous/ambiguous question by making, regardless of the outcome. (We do have too many of those kinds of questions these days, don’t we?) Attentive to how and why things come together, I am influenced by collaborations, both artistic and with other fields. It is not an artist’s responsibility to come to the same conclusion as their collaborator, and the shape they create together is far more dynamic, aka enacting the edge effect. Historically, I have worked with doctors, scientists, engineers, foresters, educators, and other artists. My research at the University of Maine has centered on Cellulose Nanofiber, and my MFA thesis is sense making in a creative practice. Presently, I am working on a field guide for and by artists on sense making.
Augusta Sparks Farnum is an artist living and working in Brooklin, Maine. She received her Bachelor’s in Photography from Bard College, a Master’s in Arts in Medicine from University of Florida, a Maine Arts and Humanities in Medicine certificate and (is finishing her) MFA in Intermedia from University of Maine. The landscape, edge effect, and non-linear storytelling are essential elements that run throughout her work, which is influenced by photography. At University of Maine, Farnum initiated use of the Process Development Center’s cellulose nanofiber as an art medium, and served as teaching assistant for the Maine Arts and Humanities in Medicine program. Augusta founded the Carnegie Picture Lab, an arts education non-profit, and the social prescription program Arts In Health: First Aid Art Kits for the quarantined population during COVID in Walla Walla, Washington. Recently, she taught in the community program for Haystack Mountains School of Crafts; exhibited at the Parsonage Gallery in Searsport, Maine; presented at SPACE gallery in Portland, Maine; has been written about in Art New England and published in ArtPlace.
Augusta Sparks, Spring 2024
Contact: awe@andwithevery.com
For information about teaching, workshops, collaborations, and the field guide please go to www.andwithevery.com