I n t r o
My technique is to use the expressionist technique of an emotional response to what I see. I feel capturing a fleeting moment requires diligent observation and an unerring ability to focus on line that represents the energy that is given off. I am interested in an economy of line, mastery of the eye to see it right the first time. I use rapid strokes with a palette knife allowing for color to blend spontaneously capturing a magical color harmony, a spontaneous accident that is divine in the color usage. Building up layers of paint and yet not losing the spontaneous energy quality is important in my work. I am trying to capture enough of the subject matter to develop these messages and yet not over develop to provide too many answers to the observer or lose the energetic quality that I feel is so important.
Art should be a connection between the viewer and the creator, a conversation that develops through the composition, the line and the color.
--Sabre Esler
Artist’s Statement
Can a Southern artist outside the cultural centers of New York, London and Paris
successfully navigate the mercurial waters between intellectual and aesthetic importance?
The answer is uniquely and decidedly affirmative with Sabre Esler, who continuously
refers and builds upon many of the advances of 20th century artistic geniuses while
embracing the oft-neglected visual appeal of painting.
An outsider of the Ivy League-RISD-New York network, Sabre’s work has an immediate
visceral appeal and then reads with depth upon closer inspection. This powerful
combination has already won her work standing in many of the South’s finest collections
from Palm Beach, St. Simons, Sullivan’s Island to Atlanta and Charlotte. With her
expanding audience of collectors, Sabre stands on the cusp of much larger influence,
exuding the same prominence as her mentor Marc Chatov. Consequently her previous
regional appeal has expanded beyond St. Simons and Atlanta to collectors
aggressively seeking her work in Boston, New York, San Francisco and Washington DC.
Ms. Esler’s idealized environments beckon to the Southern sensibility of place,
community and land. Subject matter centers on sea-, city- and landscapes to the rare still
life. In all she demonstrates one of her most important traits: the consistent ability to
create tension and transport the viewer from the harsh contemporary world—filled with
conflict in far off lands, the decline of Western prominence and escalating commodity
prices--to the idealized world of memory. Her paintings encapsulate and communicate
this Southern voice in a most satisfying fashion. Just as Dickinson penned with
efficiency, Ms. Esler precisely applies expressionistic areas of color with restraint,
creating a welcoming respite from the troubles of early 21st century American life, while
also alerting the viewer--through atypical highlights and low bass mixed media
applications—to the materiality of our environment and therefore the limitations of this
ideal.
Capitalizing on the learnings of post-modern, modern and classical artistic leaders, Esler
is important for both her voice and technique. A review of her work demonstrates
proficiency with artistic innovation, clear vision and a solid respect for the art of painting.
Her classically proportioned, color harmonized works build off the most prominent
advances of the last two centuries while concisely communicating the unique energy she
senses in the world and of beauty. In one moment the viewer inspects the mood of color,
the materiality of canvas and in the next his spirit leaps at the capacity of our humanity.
This power and facility in both the theoretical and emotive realms makes Esler an artist
quickly on the ascent and one to watch and collect.
A Critic’s Review
