An Interview with Sara Adlerstein, by Valerie Mann

1. When did you first start painting?

I started using oils and mixed media in my early twenties when I was an undergraduate at the Universidad de Concepcion, Chile. I started to exhibit my work in my thirties when I was in graduate school and lived in Seattle. That is like a century ago…………

2. What is it about working abstractly that appeals to you?

Perhaps it just reflects the way I interpret the world or it is my own language to express how I see the world. Many of my images tell stories and feelings, and I like watching them develop – free flowing and taking a form on their own.

One might think of my images as abstract but they are always connected to some reality. I like that (other) viewers can connect to my images also in a personal way and experience emotions based on their own lives. But sometimes I wish viewers could share my dreams and concerns.

3. How did you come to realize you needed to bring your study of biology and your study of art together? Was there an ‘a-ha’ moment?

That just happened naturally. I do not direct what develops in my artwork: there is an immediate connection that is not filtered through my brain. Since my work is a mirror of what happens in life, this includes who I am and what I do as a scientist.

What I did discover while working at the University of Michigan is that I can integrate art and environmental sciences into my teaching and also into educational outreach projects. It has opened endless collaborations, possibilities and so much happiness. This fall semester, for example, I will be teaching a class on arts and nature at the Residential College and it will be in Spanish! So the students will learn Spanish through discovering these connections.

4. Has being an artist affected how you approach your scientific research?  If so, how?

Absolutely! The influences are in so many layers. For example, art gives me a special kind of happiness and strength that allows me to carry on projects that are usually long-term and uncertain in their outcomes. Also, making art gives me pause to clear my mind, replenish my energy and look at a question with new possibilities. For me, art is freedom and making art expands my ways of thinking, which is fundamental to the kind of work I do in integrating biological information and data through quantitative modeling. I believe creating is a fundamental necessity for scientists to develop their full potential.

4. How has being a scientist affected your art-making?

My creative process is driven by a lifelong practice of the scientific method, of being a curious person trying to figure out how nature works. So, each piece is an experiment that teaches me something. As an environmental scientist, I look at nature in many ways,  trying to figure out how to help make this planet a better place, and these concerns definitely influence the subject matter of my art.

5. You travel a lot.  What are some ways traveling has affected your art discipline?

Travel mostly has an effect in the subject matter of my paintings. In essence, every place where I have been finds its way into my images. It can be a forest where I found refuge, a certain light over an ocean, a river I worry about, or simply a feeling of longing for a place where I once lived. I discover them as they unravel out of colors and shapes that develop in front of my eyes. Sometimes I purposely call on them for the experience of reliving moments I cherish.

6. Are there artists working today, or historically, who have particularly interested you? If so, who are they and what is about them or their work that inspires you?

I am grateful to all of those artists that have brought magic to my life and there are so many. I love the work of Chagall. When looking at his paintings I sense his love and care for humanity, I feel connected to an extraordinary, kind and thoughtful man. I almost feel that we have met.

From artists today I really like the work of Kiefer. I saw one of his exhibits at the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum in Berlin and I had a hard time walking away. There were sculptural pieces made mostly in lead and everything about them was so incredibly enjoyable in terms of visual quality and subject matter. The effect the work had on me was like a magnet and a spell.