SARAH GOTOWKA is a visual artist currently living in Montréal Quebec. She is adopted Korean-Polish-Italian-American, and grew up in the suburbs of upstate New York listening to Boyz II Men and Aaliyah. (These factors alone have influenced her art practice immensely.) She received her BFA from The Cleveland Institute of Art majoring in Fiber and Material Studies, and is now in her third year of Concordia’s MFA program in the Fibres department.
![How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore? 2012
Composed solely from hand woven glow-in-the-dark boondoggle (a.k.a. gimp, scoubidou, rexlace) this giant sadface materializes the untranslatable emotions that are often miscommunicated through digital conversations. (The title is taken from Prince’s 1982 ballad.) This piece was installed in FOFA Gallery’s Black Box in Montreal QC from January - February 2012. Approx. 3’ [w] x 3’ [h] x 6” [d] Photo credit: Guy L’Heureux](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m253cdy6EU1qg8cizo1_1280.jpg)
How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore? 2012
Composed solely from hand woven glow-in-the-dark boondoggle (a.k.a. gimp, scoubidou, rexlace) this giant sadface materializes the untranslatable emotions that are often miscommunicated through digital conversations. (The title is taken from Prince’s 1982 ballad.) This piece was installed in FOFA Gallery’s Black Box in Montreal QC from January - February 2012. Approx. 3’ [w] x 3’ [h] x 6” [d] Photo credit: Guy L’Heureux
How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore? FOFA Gallery, Black Box, Montreal QC. (January - Feb 2012) View from approx 15’ away.
How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore under construction. This piece would not have been possible without the help of Gabrielle Gingras, Rebecca Smyth, Alex Borkowski, Sarah Barr, Andreanne Godin, Julia Rouleau, Johanna Autin, and NJ, my Polish friend from the prototyping lab.
North American Embroidery Sampler for 2011
Hand embroidered, embroidery floss of various colors. Approximately 2.5’ x 1.5’.
Embroidery samplers were a place for women to practice patterns and needle techniques, and to memorize things like multiplication charts or church hymns; these ended up archiving a culture’s ideals during a specific time period. The sampler I created documents North American fashion trends (faux tribal patterns and wolf faces), lifestyles promoted through music (The Weeknd’s “The Morning” lyric), and the contemporary electronic language of communication (text slang and acronyms).
Miami 2010
Hand woven double cloth pick-up, cotton. Approximately 2.5” x 1m. Sext message sent from Marcos to my friend in Miami Florida right before their second date.
Toni Braxton 2010
Bead weaving, cream and gold beads. Approximately 2” x 3’. From Toni Braxton’s “I Get So High.” The lyric reads “I want to feel your heart and soul inside of me” translated to text slang, utilizing an emoticon heart (<3).
The Way U Make Me Feel 2010
During the spring of 2010 I asked friends from Montreal to sing a lyric of their choice that encapsulated their current romantic sentiments. Each stage from the cycle of love was represented: fantasy and sexual desire, infatuation and obsession, idealistic love and need for the other, the deterioration of the relationship, the split, emotional turmoil, loneliness and anger, the mending of the heart, and then falling in love all over again. (The Way U Make Me Feel is originally intended to be viewed as a loop.)
Malcolm 2010
Jacquard woven cotton. Approximately 1.5m x 1m. Lyric from Usher’s “Sign Them Papers.”
Michael 2010
Jacquard woven cotton. Approximately 3’ x 1.5’. Lyric from Rihanna’s “Rehab.”
