{"id":1568166,"date":"2025-10-15T09:29:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T08:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/?p=1568166"},"modified":"2026-03-31T16:13:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:13:17","slug":"sara-rossberg-a-luminous-obsession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/15\/sara-rossberg-a-luminous-obsession\/","title":{"rendered":"Sara Rossberg: A Luminous Obsession"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sara Rossberg won Joshua Donkor\u2019s Choice Award in Jackson\u2019s Art Prize this year with her work Emergence<\/em>. In this interview, she discusses preserving the transparency of her layers, drawing as intensely as painting, and looking for detachment in her subjects.<\/p>\n

Above image: <\/strong>Sara Rossberg sitting in front of her painting Presence – Two<\/em> in her studio<\/small><\/p>\n

\n
\"Sara
Emergence<\/em>, 2024
Sara Rossberg
Oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm | 47.2 x 47.2 in<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sara: I announced at the age of nine that I wanted to be an artist, much to the dismay of my father. After graduating from school in 1971, I entered art college, Staedelschule, Academy of Fine Arts in Frankfurt, Germany. During my second year, I was awarded a scholarship that included one year of studying abroad. So, after the end of my course at Staedelschule, this brought me to London in 1976.<\/p>\n

Initially, I enrolled at Camberwell College of Art and Crafts to study paper conservation with the intention of learning a skill that would provide me with an income while painting. Within weeks, I hated the course, gave up the whole idea and switched back to painting. As I was unable to move to a postgraduate college, I was given permission to work within the BA course under David Hepher. I applied for and received a further scholarship from the DAAD, German Academic Exchange Service, to fund another year of studies. <\/p>\n

I have lived and worked as an artist in London ever since. During the 1980s and early 90s, my work began to gain recognition. I had international gallery representation and numerous exhibitions, including museum retrospectives and a solo show at Art Basel. After the economic recession of the early nineties, subsequent worldwide gallery closures, including mine, and the arrival of the YBA, interest in painting diminished dramatically. Although I have not been able to regain my earlier position, I have continued to work consistently and always undeterred by changing trends.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Morning in the studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine: What does a typical working day in the studio look like for you? Do you have any important routines or rituals?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sara: I have always worked where I live, I often worked from home while at art college. Painting is my life. It suits me to be surrounded by my work at all times and to be able to glance at and check what I am working on at any time of day. I try to paint more or less every day and start in the morning as soon as I have had breakfast in the studio. <\/p>\n

I think one could call me obsessive about painting. And I get twitchy if I am kept away from it, ordinary life has to fit around it. When I am painting, I get totally absorbed by the process, forget everything else. I always have music playing in the background, either my own downloads or radio stations that don\u2019t talk at me. I have tried to listen to podcasts, but I always find that suddenly they finish and I haven\u2019t heard a word of it.<\/p>\n

My paintings take a very long time to make; weeks or months for the large ones. I prefer to stay with each piece until it reaches an advanced stage; I don\u2019t like long interruptions. Taking several days off for other activities disconnects me, and it takes a lot of effort to get back to where I left off. My process is very laborious and often requires days of drying time. So, in order to be as efficient as possible, I usually work on at least two large paintings simultaneously. On an average day, I work from around 9 o\u2019clock till lunchtime and all afternoon, sometimes with a short break to walk to the shops for food and to get exercise. I don\u2019t usually observe weekends as such.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Sara Rossberg at work in her studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine: Which materials or tools could you not live without?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sara: Nowadays, I pretty much use only one type of material which is acrylic medium of various kinds: liquids and gels, matt and gloss, which I mix with pure colour pigments. This practice goes back to my early days in the 1970s when I practiced the old master technique of layering egg tempera and oil glazes.<\/p>\n

I loved this method, but it did have its limitations. The material is too delicate and brittle to use on a large scale and to any degree of increased thickness. Acrylic medium is a direct replacement of egg tempera but offers unlimited flexibility and allows me to apply it to any thickness, but it can also be used for glazing, in the same way as oil paint. In addition, it has translucent properties even at greater thickness which gives the impression of stained glass. Another advantage is that it is water-based and dries relatively fast. I always work on stretched canvas, and I don\u2019t like solid surfaces like board, even when it is covered in canvas. I like to work with the texture of the canvas, but also need the give and flexibility, the liveliness of this kind of substrate.<\/p>\n

The only actual tool that I cannot do without is a super-sharp knife to slice back through thick layers of paint in order to retrieve lower lying colours, even down to the primer. I have a stock of small kitchen paring knives, normally used for peeling vegetables. They have been known to slice through me on occasion, leaving me with one crippled forefinger so far.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Sara\u2019s work station top, covered in pots of colour pigments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine: Do you work from a reference? What is your process?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sara: During the early years of my career, I worked entirely from imagination. But after a few years, I moved on to drawing people around me from life to access more detailed information, and then painted from these drawings. Eventually, this was too limiting and I resorted to asking strangers who suited my ideas to model for me, which meant, due to my slow painting process, I had to take a series of photos instead of drawing from life. I have always used black and white to avoid being influenced by the seductiveness of colour photos. My process is to form an idea in my head and then find the material to realise the imagined image. I take photos specifically to fit an idea, sometimes hundreds to find one that matches what I am looking for.<\/p>\n

Every aspect of my paintings is deliberate and ‘invented’ for the purpose of each painting; I do not use any found material or reference art history, literature or similar sources.<\/p>\n

Once I have gathered enough to work from, I make a scale sketch for the composition of the painting, which is then transferred to the canvas by the grid method. The irreversible character of acrylic paint means that it is impossible to remove it if I make mistakes; therefore, I have to take great care that the composition is right from the outset. As I rely heavily on translucency and the traceability back down to the initial drawing on the primed canvas, I cannot overpaint any mistakes as this would destroy any transparency. I always like to connect back to earlier stages of my paintings by making cuts back to earlier layers.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Blood Orange<\/em>, 2022
Sara Rossberg
Acrylic medium and pigment on linen, 200 x 160 cm | 78.7 x 62.9 in<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine: Do you regularly draw or keep a sketchbook? If so, how does this inform your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sara: I don\u2019t sketch on the whole, everything I produce is serious and deliberate, heavily worked through, gone over and reconsidered a hundred times. Any sketchy thought process is kept in my head until I am ready to use it. I experiment in my head.<\/p>\n

My actual dedicated drawings take a long time to make, they are as dense and intense as my paintings. I think it is not in my nature to make quick sketches. They feel like unfinished thoughts, which, as such, I would not like to leave evidence of. I have tried on occasion to move outside the box and produce something casual, but without fail, it ended up escalating into a considered work or it got discarded. The only sketches of a sort that exist are very early ones, specifically made from imagination in preparation for paintings.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Sara\u2019s work station<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine: Have you ever had a period of stagnation in creativity? If so, what helped you overcome it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sara: No, on the contrary, one could say, I am totally obsessive about painting. I have to force myself NOT to work and take time off. Painting seems to be what I am, my way of communicating with the world. My work evolves from one painting to the next, it feels like a natural growing process that I don\u2019t even have to think about. <\/p>\n

I am happiest just working away, every day, even without exhibitions coming up or anybody waiting for me to produce work. When I lost my gallery representation after the recession of the early 1990s, I carried on painting every day, although I had nowhere to show my work. Painting is what I do and will always be doing until the end. I am not dependent on demand for my work, although I very much appreciate any recognition of it. I have always worked from home because my paintings are such a big part of my life; I like to be surrounded by them and to be able to glance at them whenever. Apart from that, saving on studio rental and storage has made it possible for me to carry on working for over 50 years. It is the most economical way, financially and time-wise.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Work in progress on the easel in the studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine: Are there any specific artists or mentors who have inspired you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sara: Experiencing old master paintings as a child when visiting museums left a deep impression on me. Even before I entered art college, I was fascinated by the captivating intensity of painters like Vermeer and Van Eyck and the purity of Piero della Francesca. The greatest immediate impact any artist has had on me however, was Christo. I came across his work when I first started art college, and for the first time, my eyes were opened to what art could be and that there were no boundaries. His concept of wrapping up objects, even buildings etc., resonated with me very strongly. I have always been shy and withdrawn, and my approach to art is essentially introverted, which meant I naturally related to the idea of concealing, hiding, and covering up. The scale of Christo\u2019s work, physical and intellectual, blew me away.<\/p>\n

I also learnt a lot about modern art and how to question it, by visiting the Stroeher Collection at the Landesmuseum in my hometown Darmstadt. This collection comprised an astonishingly comprehensive selection of international, contemporary art, including entire rooms filled with Warhol, Oldenburg, Beuys, etc. <\/p>\n

Apart from this initial learning process, however, I have always been looking inwards rather than seeking inspiration from other artists. I work most successfully when I have no one to answer to.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Blue<\/em>, 2022
Sara Rossberg
Acrylic medium and pigment on linen, 170 x 170 cm | 66.9 x 66.9 in<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine: What were you thinking about or exploring at the time you painted Emergence<\/em>? What inspired it, and how did it come to be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sara: I had already used similar images of the same two women in another painting (Blue<\/em>, 2022) and some drawings before I made Emergence<\/em>. The reference photos for this painting were some of several hundred I took during one of my usual material searches, taking street photos of people who were unaware of me. I have a strong sense of what I am looking for and keep taking endless photos in the hope of finding one or two that are right. <\/p>\n

I always look for people who are just ‘being there’, I don\u2019t document any particular activity or location. But I search for calm, detachment, simple human existence, unrelated individuals, not conveying any particular social comment or status. In a sense, representative of someone existing at this point in time in this society. On reflection, I seem to focus instinctively on younger people. This inadvertent choice possibly represents a longing for positivity, maybe even hopefulness.<\/p>\n

I designed the two women in the painting to be one unit, to form one shape within the image, joined by their colouring and material formation, which is in contrast to the liquid blue-ish background, which acts like a bracket around the pale figures. I wanted them to appear from nowhere, their brightness warmed by the sanguine ink underdrawing. Their features are almost invisible, but the physical presence of the impasto material, on the other hand, makes them prominent within the surface of the canvas. This is enhanced by the interplay of reflected light and shadows, which constantly shifts their appearance as the lighting changes.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Corner of Sara\u2019s studio, showing a recent series of \u201cminiatures\u201d, her smallest format at 30 x 20 cm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine: Why did this piece feel like the right one to submit?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sara: My paintings are usually very complex and demanding in terms of requiring time to read them and to explore all aspects contained in them. I chose Emergence<\/em> because it is relatively straightforward to take in, it relies on subtlety rather than complexity, which I felt would give it a better chance to be noticed. It also exudes calm and serenity, and quiet positivity, which I was hoping would resonate with people.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Sara Rossberg working on one of her latest paintings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine: How did it feel to move through the stages of the competition and win Joshua Donkor\u2019s Choice Award?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sara: My work has not been exhibited for a very long time. My last solo show in London was in 2007. Entering open submissions is one way of attempting to have my work seen, but most of the time I am not successful. I was shortlisted for the Jackson\u2019s Art Prize once before, which was absolutely amazing for me.<\/p>\n

When I made the Longlist this time, first the extended list and then the official one, I was over the moon. I was convinced that this would be as far as I could hope to go. When I was shortlisted a week later, I thought that this was as good as winning the competition. I was so happy, but never thought I would stand a chance of actually winning a prize. So I couldn\u2019t believe it when Joshua Donkor chose me; it seemed unreal, considering that I have been virtually ignored for decades. I was particularly pleased to have been noticed by a young artist who did not know anything about me but who seemed to recognise value in my painting. This experience has done much more for me than just being awarded a prize. It has renewed my confidence that maybe, eventually, my work of over 50 years will be recognised.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Corner of the studio with paintings Food<\/em>, 2023 and Self II<\/em>, 2018 on the wall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine: You describe your work as being \u2018made up of countless layers, layers of paint as well as meaning\u2019. How do you know when a piece is finished?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sara: My first layer is an ink drawing on the primed canvas, usually in sanguine or red, always starting with a glowing colour. I draw my figures fairly accurately, old masterly looking, then begin to build colour and material in sections, developing the image all over, across the entire canvas, working on the painting as a whole. My layering is endless; I never know in advance how quick or slow the process will be. The painting dictates how I proceed. I obscure and reveal in accordance with the importance I assign to the sections within the painting. This determines how I guide the viewer\u2019s focus, what I want them to linger on and explore. This is how layers relate to meaning.<\/p>\n

I find it very hard to decide when to stop. Ultimately, I don\u2019t know when a painting is finished. I am never entirely satisfied and often keep working on it when I could have left off much earlier. This may be because my process is extremely laborious and lengthy, and by the time I reach near completion, my standards may have moved on or altered slightly. I am never completely satisfied with a painting because there is an ideal image in my head that is impossible to reach. Therefore, I kind of capitulate at a certain point and move on to the next one for a new attempt at reaching that impossible ideal of the ultimate painting that says it all. <\/p>\n

Occasionally, I go back to earlier paintings and start repainting parts of them, because they don\u2019t seem good enough. Looking through my stacks of older works, I often feel that I would resolve them differently, now that I know better what to do. I gain experience with every painting. In the end I have to leave them be as they are from another time.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Park<\/em>, 2025
Sara Rossberg
Acrylic medium and pigment on linen, 200 x 200 cm | 78.7 x 78.7 in<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine: If you could experiment with any new technique or concept without limitations, what would you love to try?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sara: I would like the option to make paintings without size\/space limitation, to test the boundaries and to see how far I would want to go expanding the scale of my paintings. Without having any demand for such enormous works or gallery support that would welcome work on a much larger scale, it would not make sense to attempt it, purely for practical reasons. The largest work I have made to date is six metres wide and two metres high, in three sections.<\/p>\n

At the other end of the scale, I would quite like to try out making etchings based on my particular way of drawing, which centres around the importance of the single line. I am thinking of drypoint etchings specifically. I only have one example of an early attempt from the 1970s, a print that I made at art college during a very brief stint in the printing department. <\/p>\n

\"Sara
Sara Rossberg applying paint to her painting in progress<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine: Are there any new materials or ideas you’re excited to explore using your prize?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sara: My process has been evolving very gradually over the decades; method and material have always purely served what I aim to arrive at as the end result. The development of my work has never been process or material-inspired. I tend to search out the most suitable material that fulfills my requirement and aids my imagery as it evolves. I am always open to new ways of achieving my ideas \u2013 it\u2019s almost as if each painting dictates how it wants to be realised.<\/p>\n

The one area within my work that could potentially benefit from exploring new products are my works on paper. I like to experiment with inks and coloured pencils, pastels, etc,. In other words, ways of bringing colour into line drawings. I am also interested in applying volume of paint without the paper distorting. And I would be keen to explore new materials that might work well for drawing\/painting hybrid work.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Atmosphere – Undefined<\/em>, 2025
Sara Rossberg
Acrylic medium and pigment on linen, 170 x 170 cm | 66.9 x 66.9 in<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine: What\u2019s coming up next for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sara: I have been invited to participate in a very interesting group exhibition titled Repose<\/em>, which explores the reclining figure in contemporary painting. The exhibition will take place at William Hine Gallery at the end of November.<\/p>\n

Follow Sara on Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

Visit Sara\u2019s website <\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

Further Reading<\/h2>\n

Meet Eleanor Johnson, Winner of Jackson’s Art Prize 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Jackson’s Art Prize 2025 Exhibition at Affordable Art Fair<\/a><\/p>\n

How We Collaborate With Artists<\/a><\/p>\n

Expert Advice on Making Your Way as an Artist<\/a><\/p>\n

Shop Pigments on jacksonsart.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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