Sarana Haeata
Sarana Haeata’s artwork embraces a sense of letting go—the abstract and beautifully curvaceous human forms in her paintings depict a sense of vulnerability and complete surrender.
WORDS: Hande Renshaw I PHOTOGRAPHY: Alexander Cooke & Chad Konik
‘[In my work] I like to show people in states of surrender, and for me falling or perhaps floating is handing our body and selves over to another force—surrendering to it,’ says Sarana Haeata.
‘I love the idea of art entwining with our habitable space to become part of our daily, functional lives,’ says Sarana Haeata of working with larger scale murals.
‘I like to show people in states of surrender, and for me falling or perhaps floating is handing our body and selves over to another force—surrendering to it,’ says Sarana Haeata.
Calm Place II by Sarana Haeata.
‘I have a deep obsession with ultra marine blue. And I mean deep. For a long time my paintings would largely feature naive forms of blue women.’
Calm Place by Sarana Haeata.
“Abstract art is freedom. For me it’s trying to capture a feeling which doesn’t have a recognisable physical form. .. when we let go of what’s recognisable, or present forms out of their usual context, it allows for a deeper scrutiny of what’s going on inside of us.”
‘I love painting murals because the work becomes so encompassing for the viewer—I love the idea of art entwining with our habitable space to become part of our daily, functional lives.’
Fremantle-based Sarana Haeata is a Maori-Australian artist—her abstract paintings depict the female human form in stages of movement, at times appearing like they are almost ‘falling off’ the canvas.
‘In Maori culture, we talk about the wairua—a constantly moving life force that pushes you where you need to go. As a child my mum would always say to me, “Just go with the wairua,” meaning, let life take you,’ shares Sarana of her inspiration.
Growing up, Sarana was introduced to art from the get-go—she studied at a Steiner school and her father was an artist who always had a magnitude of materials for her to explore and experiment with within reach. ‘He always had a variety of art materials, whether it was watercolour paints, pastels, oil pastels, charcoal or conté crayon… he seemed to have an endless supply! This meant that I was comfortable interchanging mediums,’ she says, ‘It was a bit of a double whammy, with art at home and also reinforced by my school.’
In her artwork, Sarana mostly uses acrylic paint for her abstract paintings, sometimes mixing the paint with different sediments, such as the earth from her garden or sand from her local beach. For her, the additions from the earth are a way to infuse her paintings with something personal. ‘I also love to explore different mediums, a few that I often use are oil stick, pastel, pigment powder, and ink,’ she shares.
Sarana started her journey as an artist drawing in monochrome—her first exhibition was entirely in lead pencil on paper. She then moved onto working solely on clay for a number of years, thinking that her days of painting were behind her. ‘I used to feel insecure about how I jumped from medium to medium, but now I love seeing how drawing influences my paintings and how ceramics has gifted me a love of texture and surface.’
Today, the artist works regularly with earthier tones in her artwork. Her paintings depict abstract human forms that are in different stages of movement. For Sarana, abstract art means freedom, ‘For me, abstract art is trying to capture a feeling, which doesn’t have a recognisable physical form. I think when we let go of what is recognisable, or present forms out of their usual context, it allows for a deeper scrutiny of what’s going on inside of us,’ she says.
Not one to plan or predict her paintings, Sarana begins each artwork with a loose idea in her mind, often letting the painting she’s working on dictate the process. ‘I take signals from the painting, accidents might happen that push the work in a different direction, so I try to remain open-minded and malleable during the process.’
Coming up for Sarana this year is a solo exhibition at Gallery Alchemy on April 5th, as well as easing into a new pace of life with her family in Western Australia. ‘Having recently moved to the coastal countryside of Margaret River, which feels like magic, I’m in a beautiful new studio and so excited to see what will unfold for us here!’
To stay up to date with Sarana’s work and exhibitions, visit her website or follow @saranahaeata on Instagram.