Meet the Artist: Sarah Emily Porter

Artist Sarah Emily Porter is based in London, the city of her birth. She initially took a degree in History at Durham University before later moving back to London to Study Fine Art at The Slade School of Art and then Chelsea College of Art from 2014-2016.

In the subsequent years her paintings have been exhibited in many of the capital’s galleries and she has won numerous awards and commissions, most recently for the penthouse at the Nobu London Portman Square.

Sarah was commissioned to design the labels for Artelium’s limited edition Artefact wines, alongside three original paintings for the Cellar Door. The launch of these wines was timed to coincide with the opening of the exhibition ‘Material Matters’, which showcased the original paintings. These stunning paintings will now be permanently displayed at the estate. 

The paintings were inspired by the landscape and geometries found in and around the vineyard at Artelium and were created using her unique painting technique. Her poured paintings reflect the changing colours and structures of the vines during the seasons.

The diagonal layout of the vineyard including the monumental V on the South Downs, overlooking the vineyard, have been manipulated mathematically to inform the pours. The colours represent the seasonal colour changes of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines after the grape harvest. Half the vine leaves in the vineyard turn red, the other half yellow.

Porters unique pouring technique involves pouring and manipulating the works on a specially made mechanism which tilts the canvas from horizontal to vertical positions allowing gravity to inform the work.

She describes this process as “a dialogue between art and science which removes the artist from the gesture and emotion of painting.” Through this method of painting, she instead highlights the complexity of colour and the intricacies of her materials.    

The paintings were inspired by the landscape and geometries found in and around the vineyard at Artelium and were created using her unique painting technique. Paint was poured and manipulated on a specially made mechanism which tilted the canvas from horizontal to vertical positions allowing gravity to inform the artwork.

She describes this process as a ‘dialogue between art and science which removes the artist from the gesture and emotion of painting.’ Through this method of painting, she instead highlights the complexity of colour and the intricacies of her materials.