object permanence

2025

Object permanence is knowing something exists without being able to see it.  Babies are born without the ability to understand a ball is still there even when a blanket is draped over it.  Out of sight, out of mind. As we grow, we learn that even though we can’t see the ball, it is of course still there.

Certain environmental problems are extremely visible, from islands of plastic floating in the ocean to the smoke of wildfires obscuring the skies. But many are not.  They travel invisibly through waterways, in the air, up the arteries of trees, and through the soil.  Of course, we humans have caused the problems.  We use and throw PFAS-laden chemicals down the drain.  We allow our septic systems to overflow, leading to watershed nutrient overloading.  We bring home microscopic invasive species from other parts of the world that cause ecosystem-wide destruction.

It is these threats: threats to our health, to our biodiversity, to our ecosystem resilience, that are calling for immediate attention and action. But without visibility, we lack connection to these crises and often forget about them entirely.

Sarah uses the lens of printmaking to explore this concept of invisibility and how visibility can lead to connection.  From the existence of the forever chemical PFAS in the soil, to nutrient overloading in the Great Bay estuary leading to eelgrass decline, to the intensive root systems of invasive plants, to the invisible destruction of the beech tree population by an invading nematode—these are all issues that her woodcuts address.  By incorporating monoprinting techniques with her more traditional woodcut practice, from stenciling to selective ink rolling, her prints reveal the invisible layers underneath.