Each work undergoes its own evolution, beginning with small line drawings in notebooks and progressing through watercolor and ink. With each successive stage of drawing the form grows into uncomfortably familiar modes; part animal, part human, part transition.

The intimacy of hair and skin, recognizable to our private selves, is at once unsettling and gratifying. Although we think of ourselves as unique, our sexuality ties us undeniably to nature. The fluid slippage between human and animal reminds us—for better or for worse—that we are not as evolved as we would like to think.

The multiplicities of cloning, regeneration and biological manipulation are an undercurrent, but my goal is to affect the viewer personally rather than politically. The chain imagery in recent work (and the addition of graphite to the watercolor and ink of previous work) signals further exploration of our connectedness and mutual discomfort.

Thus the work is not intended to shock but to create a moment of revelation, a space in the mind of the viewer that can be both relief and intrigue.

Sara Stites is an American artist born in Brooklyn, New York City in 1955. Sara earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Syracuse University. After graduating, she moved to Boston and spent two years making etchings at the Experimental Etching Studio before moving back to New York City to attend Pratt Institute. After obtaining her Master of Fine Arts from Pratt, Stites spent time in Houston, where she enjoyed the freshly energized art scene, and later lived for eleven years in the Florida Keys. She currently lives and works in Miami (accurate as of March 2009).