Five on the First

March 2026
Sara Suppan

“I think about my paintings giving a little handwave, or a hello. They’re friendly and they’re not flashy. Through subjects strange and specific, plain and contemporary, they invite new consideration of humble stuff. Many of my recent paintings are essentially portraits of objects—goofy things painted lovingly and using the conventions of still-life. Others of my work feature what I call “good paintings of bad drawings”. These deface clean surfaces with a scribble: a frowny face keyed into a car, for example, or a nice bowl of lemons tattooed with amateurish doodles. Always seeking to create contrast between technique and tone, or between realism and flatness.

My paintings depend on beauty being undercut by a crude or sloppy element. High status is conferred by the tradition of oil painting and by the hours of labor implied, but the subjects I choose are, if not outright funny, sort of oddball. I generally take everyday things directly from my home. I veer toward analog and sometimes nostalgic objects but these get mixed up with more contemporary signifiers like emoticons and chapstick, displacing them from a particular time.

These paintings represent real effort—too sincere to be simply funny—and yet too silly to be serious. I always want to skate that edge; using the full force of my ability and attention in the service of making something fundamentally stupid, and recognizable, and good.”

CV