ABOUT Sanah
Artist Bio
Sanah Brown-Bowers Just Breathe
Sanah Brown-Bowers is a self-taught artist whose vibrant and detailed acrylic and oil paintings celebrate Black joy and the enduring strength of family bonds. Her work draws inspiration from her childhood in 1980s Queens, New York, and often features portraits of her family members alongside pop art elements, whimsical details, and found objects that create a sense of nostalgia and wonder.
Through her art, Sanah seeks to honor her ancestors and restore hope to a community whose history and identity have often been marginalized and erased. Sanah's unique artistic vision has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including 1st place in the McKinney Black History Art Competition, a scholarship from the Priscilla Art Club of Dallas, and Best of Show at the Lenora Rolla Heritage Center Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.
In 2020, her work was featured in a solo show at the Bert Long Jr. Gallery at the Houston Museum of African American Culture. Sanah is also a talented muralist and, together with her husband Reginald Bowers, runs a mural company that has recently completed a Ray Charles mural for the Blues Alley project in Deep Ellum, Texas. A native of Queens, New York, Sanah has called Fort Worth, Texas home for the past 20 years. She holds a BA in Fine Arts from the University of North Texas an earned her MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland.
Artist Statement
I’ve always been interested in portrait photography and realistic artwork. This obsession began when I escaped regularly after High School to the Barnes and Nobles photography section to view some of my favorite photographers such as Gordon Parks and Cindy Sherman, so merging photography and painting with my artwork was inevitable. I began creating portraits over 15 years ago, colors, patterns and fabric designs would take me into unchartered territories and oftentimes, became the foundation and backdrop to a portrait idea I still carry with me to this day.
My first subject has been my family and painting their portraits realistically. My daughter's childhood to adulthood is often the muse behind my inspiration but recently I have combined other stories of all my close family members. Overall, my artwork is about a family, a family that is a part of a larger family and culture, dating back thousands of years. I believe everyone's story is important no matter class or status. My purpose is to let the viewer take a sneak peek through my artwork into my intimate family experiences that are mostly joyful and everyday events. My artwork plays on nostalgic memories that often merge realism with the fantastical. These memories take residence in my artwork as cartoons, movies and graphic text that are often relatable universally.
Over the past years, my artistic practice has morphed into multidisciplinary mediums. Acrylic, oil and spray paints, mixed media, paper collage, typography, assemblage art, LED lighting, film, video and sound all make up my family altars. These pieces are created to be sanctuaries, places of reflection where the viewer gets to look, read and explore what is being displayed in the piece. My pieces are about recalling other sanctuaries where ancestors are remembered and honored; my altars provide the viewer space to reflect on the work. The altars are intended to connect viewers with their own childhoods, text is often used in the form of poetry, prayers or handwritten quotes, sometimes subtle, sometimes bold. The significance behind the family altar is my idea that everyone's story is important and living stories need to be heard as well .
While I have focused on my family, my work is a conversation with Black history. I believe that my artwork is a portal, a portal to encounter the artist and also for me to impart something to the viewer. My hope is to affirm and uplift one's soul after encountering my work. I do this by infusing my artwork wit
h vibrant colors which invoke the senses through text, song, smell, sight and vibration. Often times when African Americans are depicted in artwork, it’s political or more often reflects memories of slavery. I believe that we as Black people have another narrative to showcase, like Black men smiling, empowered and uplifted, families having fun, children in unity and elders being respected and honored. My goal is to ensure that my artwork reflects the other side of the Black experience which is Black Joy. Our communities need to be infused with hope and a feeling of togetherness. I believe my paintings hold that reality in mind. - Sanah Brown-Bowers
Press/Media