Saren Dobkins
Saren Dobkins
BIO
Saren Dobkins, a painter with over 30 years professional experience. Saren Dobkins grew up in Zambia, Africa, and moved to Alice Springs in 1977 at the age of 14. While attending the local high school, she pursued her interest in Art through Film, Photography, Sculpture, Literature and Painting. Saren over 35 years, has created works that are bold, contemporary while showing vulnerability. The figures and objects within the work engage energetically, within a painterly landscape that is multilayered, symbolic and intuitive, created from an imagination informed by a rich personal journey. A myriad of symbols and literary meanings use the human form as the conduit to express a narrative about human desires, self-awareness and our relationships to others and the environment. Integrating the abstraction of African sculpture and the tonal, surface expressionism of modernist art, Saren’s accomplished use of colour and application of geometry explores the complexities of identity and our place within the world.
Previous Work to support Application
Where There's Smoke
Collection of 20 paintings, exhibited in a solo show, created in response to the Bushfires 2019 in the Noosa/Sunshine Coast. My intention was to use bushfires as an analogy of our response to unexpected and life changing events. They were a potent reminder of our fragility where the forces of Nature are concerned. The regeneration of the bush, the significance of trees, the resilience of the human spirit and the fate of wildlife in the face of a changing environment, were explored.
'Where There's Smoke' Catalogue
PDF to view catalogue for more information about the artworks and exhibition.
Listening to the Earth
Listening to the Earth, oil on canvas, 2006
Figure lies connected to the earth, listening to the songlines. Watched over by a bird, a nature guardian. This painting shows the interconnection between earth, us and the creatures of this world.
This painting was selected to represent Australia at the Living The Change Global Climate Summit, San Francisco 2018.
Man and his Impact on the Environment
Parallel Universe I & II (diptych)
oil on canvas, 95 x 86cm, 1998
A man drops a lit match onto the forest floor. Forest animals watch on helplessly. The forest is scorched, the cindered trees are all that remain. The burnt match is a reminder that such thoughtlessness can have devastating consequences.
Flooding Water
Paintings in response to flooding, in Brisbane that I've experienced. Water is a vital and precious resource.Access to clean, uncontaminated, fresh water is essential for life, in all forms.
Water can also be a force for destruction, as the case of flooding, tsunami or in the case of lack of, drought.
Flood Journey, 2011
Staying Afloat in Turbulent Times, 2022
How I Got Here
When I felt concerned and increasing despondent about the decline of social justice, access to clean water and energy, and the pollution of cities, and destructive pursuit of fuel at all costs, I decided to take action in some small way. I undertook a course in Creative Ecology and Sustainable Building. This book of drawings and text was created to support my application. Entitled, How I Got Here, it follows the journey of 'awakening' which led me to choose this path, that empowered me instead of demoralised me.
Click the above image to view the document.
