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Tiger Strikes Asteroid Los Angeles is thrilled to present ≈≈≈, the first solo presentation of Sara Vanderbeek's work in Los Angeles. Vanderbeek’s large-scale dyed paintings on fabric pay homage to the material practices of domestic crafts and the feminist lineage of figuration. While her paintings explore universal themes such as violence, climate crisis, and gender oppression, they also reflect Vanderbeek's personal experience as a pregnant, middle-aged woman living in Texas. Shifting through powerful feelings of witnessed social injustices, she maintains hope for humanity through compassion, connection, and play.

For the exhibition, Vanderbeek has created a labyrinthine installation of suspended paintings that ricochet between contrasting states of being: sadness and joy, nightmares and dreams, anxiety and serenity, life and death. Rendered in vivid colors and bold line work, Vanderbeek playfully casts herself alongside an ensemble of characters and symbols in various scenarios. Vanderbeek’s installation allows the viewers’ presence and imagination to wander with her through the tender and tenuous life cycles amidst a seemingly imminent global collapse.

“For Sara’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles, she showcased large-scale dyed fabric paintings that explore motherhood, the climate crisis, and gender oppression through the lens of domestic craft traditions and feminist figuration. Not only does her work explore important themes, but it was also important for us to highlight an artist who dedicates so much of her time to advocating for underrepresented artists in Texas.⁠” –– TSALA

Read Diversions LA Review

INSTALLATION VIEWS

"From pregnancy to social violence, while some subjects may be dark, others are more whimsical, and all are celebrations of the glories, indignities, traumas, and triumphs of life itself. Above all else, the joyousness of creation is hanging on the figurative line in these textile works. This is a Wow." – Genie Davis, Diversions LA