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SPRING 2026
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Students of the Frostic School of Art
Escape Artist
Sarah Smelser
Though I employ the language of abstraction, I consider myself a landscape artist. I acknowledge that my focus is more often on the “scape” rather than the “land.” A scape is usually considered a view or scene, but there is a dictionary definition that ties the word “scape” to the word “escape.” As a travel junkie whose imagery is fed by impressions and memory of place, I often feel more like an “escape artist” than an artist of any other kind.
What happens when you travel? Ideally, you step away from workaday cares, emails, leaky faucets, and sweeping the driveway. You can remake yourself, not only as a person without these trappings but also as someone full of curiosity, open to new opportunities, with fresh eyes to take in the world. These fresh eyes, along with a sturdy pair of shoes and a cell phone, help me build and maintain my studio practice; I use memory, impression, and my experiences as a traveler to cobble together an invented, non-traditional landscape.
The works in Escape Artist are inspired by physical and psychic journeys: navigating labyrinthian footpaths on the island of Skopelos, Greece; climbing the sun-scorched hills of Santa Cruz, CA; and hiking in New Mexico’s Sandia Mountains.