Paintings by {Sarah J. Bell​}

   My current body of work is an autoethnographic study of trailer park culture as it pertains to my own experience through youth to early adulthood.  I have chosen to use a visual/material culture approach in my research to better understand this experience and the identities we form in a culture. The work addresses the lack of positive representation of individuals living in trailer parks.  Images of trailer park/mobile home residents regularly perpetuate negative stereotypes and are too commonly accepted as inoffensive.  Through my research, I hope to create a narrative that speaks truthfully to my own experience, and communicates varied stories about members of my community, I want to share via my work the rich experiences I had being part of this culture.

   Personal artifacts such as journals, photo albums, trinkets, and other collected items associated with my time in the trailer park are utilized in my research to provide a lens into my past.  These items, paired with reflective journaling, help me in putting together the pieces of the stories I share.  Reflection over photos and mementos from this period help me understand how experience has informed me and others in this environment in coming to be.  My works blend together both fine arts and craft; they could be called kitsch.  This blending of practices utilizes crafts I’ve learned from my community. Many of the materials I utilize are upcycled/repurposed to keep with the values of my community:  being resourceful, and to waste not.  I also believe a range of materials is appropriate for conveying different messages or information. 

   The main focus of my work includes portraiture of community members.  I think it is important to create accessible representation of trailer park residents, to show them as relatable people and help change outside, negative perceptions.  For this reason, many of my paintings include multiple people and highlight positive relationships and experiences members of this community had that do not fit the current image perpetuated by popular media.  Crocheting, sewing, and woodworking are crafts learned in my community that are incorporated into my practice.  These additional works function collaboratively with my paintings to give the viewer a glimpse into a culture where I have lived, and continue to value.