Houston artist Sarah Sudhoff delves into themes of gender, science, and personal experience. Rooted in the quotidian, Sudhoff’s work navigates the personal and universal.
Sarah Sudhoff is a visual artist, educator, and former photo editor for Texas Monthly and Time magazines.
“Over the last fifteen years, my work has consistently interwoven themes of gender, science, and personal experience. I am fascinated by topics that seem at first commonplace and ordinary. In the midst of navigating the intricacies of my new home life during the initial weeks and months of the lockdown in Texas, I created two performances reflecting on both a personal and universal perspective of the pandemic.
In Will You Hug Me Forever, I wore a personal protective mask for over eight hours while I home-schooled two young kids, cooked meals, did laundry, and sent condolences to my family after the death of loved ones in New York from COVID-19. I photographed myself at one-hour intervals and only removed the mask for the photographs, exposing the physical pressure exerted on my skin. At times, I was exhausted, my breath felt completely restricted, pressure built in my sinuses and temples, my nose dripped, and I became overwhelmed with emotion over our reality and the lack of physical connection to my children. My six-year-old daughter asked, “Will you hug me forever?” Yes, I answered, as long as I am able.
60 Pounds of Pressure was made in direct response to the young nurse in Georgia who was found dead in her home with her four-year-old daughter sitting by her side. As a single mother of two children, my chest became tight and unbearably heavy as I reflected on the sacrifices made and the devastating and immeasurable losses we are all witnessing. I placed sixty pounds of bricks onto my chest, bearing the weight of my son and daughter, momentarily equalizing the internal pressure with the outside force.”
Sudhoff holds an MFA in photography from Parsons School of Design and a BJ in journalism and photography from the University of Texas at Austin.
Houston, TX | sarahsudhoff.com | ig: @sarahsudhoff
