Untitled (Barefoot)

Cardboard, screws and acrylic on canvas
154 x 123 x 10 cm

Sarah Cain’s work often stretches beyond the twodimensional plane; she paints on found objects and loosely hung swaths of cloth, which are closer to installation art than traditional painting. “At the core of my work is a challenge to abstract painting – an attempt to expand it,” Sarah Cain has said. The artist does not limit herself to any style or technique, combining hard-edge abstractions with loose, gestural strokes, and embellishing her pieces with found objects or craft materials. This refusal to cohere to conventional notions of abstract painting reflects the breadth of Sarah Cain’s influences – including abstract expressionism, photography, the artist Ana Mendieta, and ceramics – and her desire to dismantle the male-dominated history and traditions of painting.