Human Trapped
Sarah Maple is an artist known for her witty, playful and occasionally controversial artwork. Working in a variety of media, much of her work is largely motivated by her mixed cultural upbringing as well as her interest in activism and gender politics. Citing current affairs she creates works that provoke the viewer through satirical, tongue-in-cheek commentary.
As the centrepiece of 'Human Trapped' the fourth solo exhibition at KochxBos Gallery, Maple has created a series of 'Thoughts and Prayers' posters which she took to a shooting range and shot individually. These posters, bullet holes and all, are accompanied by a video of Maple firing a gun at the range. This work reflects her disillusionment with the current state of global politics, where meaningless platitudes take place over real action.
In 2015, she released her first book entitled 'You Could Have Done This' with KochxBos Publishers and in 2017 she gave a Tedx talk 'The Freedom To Be Challenged'. Maple's work has also been the subject of documentaries including ARTE and VPRO. In 2018 Sarah was invited by Harpers Bazaar to design a limited edition cover to celebrate women in the art world, alongside Barbara Kruger, Yayoi Kusama and Linder. In 2019 she was commissioned by Sky Arts and The Baltic to make new work about identity in Britain post Brexit.
"Sarah Maple’s artwork is unfailingly bold and brave, not for the coy or faint of heart. These unflinching, occasionally even controversial, investigations into what it is to be a woman and a Muslim in 21st century Britain are made joyful by her own very personal brand of boisterous, tongue-in-cheek humour. This is not sensationalism for sensationalism’s sake, but rather a heart felt urge by a twenty-seven-year old artist of great sincerity and talent, for the viewer to look again, and this time with a more questioning eye, at traditionally accepted notions of identity, gender, culture and religion." - Beverley Knowles 2012
Human Trapped