Betye Saar (b. 1926), photographed in her studio in Los Angeles in 2019.
Photo: David Sprague; courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles
Betye Saar has captivated the art world for decades with her imaginative repurposing of everyday materials into assemblage sculptures. In this interview for Apollo Magazine, Saar tells Jonathan Griffin that her artistic practice is connected to her belief in the magical power inherent in all inanimate objects. Her yearning for beauty, and to reinvest objects with new meaning, is what keeps her going after decades of producing her astounding creations.
“It is a testament to the dignity and profundity of Saar’s vast body of work, however, that ugliness does not preclude beauty, and that as the artist ages and the issues she has so long grappled with show no signs of resolution, she continues to make art that is surprising, and complex, and new.”
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