Sarah Fer’s work is focused on the environment, more specifically the river Adur estuary and Shoreham Beach. She spent lockdown looking for interesting stones among the millions on the beach and became fascinated by their patterning and colourings, which sometimes resemble figurative things (mimetoliths), observing as she did so, the numerous items which were brought up by storms, both natural and man-made.

She regularly does a beach clean and finds a large amount of fishing line brought in by the tide along with frayed plastic ropes and fishing net. (The most remarkable item recently has been the rudasksha beads which are possibly hindu prayer beads.) This has resulted in a series of drawings which show the tidal finds as beautiful while not ignoring the problem of plastic pollution that we are all facing. For these drawings the working method is to collect seaweed and arrange it, allowing it to dry and placing it with other found objects inside a frame, checking the composition before proceeding.

Sarah worked for a number of years as a compositing artist in the film industry, putting scenes together from disparate sources and making them look seamless, for example changing colour temperature, creating day for night scenes or placing actors who were against blue or green screens into a shot.
It is this experience that informs the way she puts images together in her paintings. Her working method might include using and juxtaposing images or combining printing textures to use as part of an image. Photography with a phone means she can record and reference what she sees on a daily basis.