From Austin, Texas
Artist Statement:
Hirneisen is a maker of objects who pushes the boundaries of traditional three-dimensional art making techniques through the use of materiality and process. Using the methods of mold-making and casting, she manipulates the familiar into unanticipated new forms. Objects anchor memories, drive daily routines, and provoke ideas. Hirneisen takes everyday objects and both literally and physically breaks them apart to create a series of components that combine to become hybrid versions of the original.
Recent works confronted gender stereotypes and the associations that society typically makes with certain consumer goods. The resulting sculptures became a gender mash-up that make us question the object’s intent. Current work in her studio explores environmental concerns. Hirneisen is replicating and recontextualizing everyday objects used to alert and protect the public from unseen danger, such as respirators, traffic cones and carbon monoxide detectors. By using both recognizable objects and non-typical materials to recreate them, she aims to draw the viewer in by adding an element of familiarity while addressing serious topics.
Artist Biography:
Sarah Hirneisen (b. 1978 Reading, PA) is an Austin based artist. She currently teaches Sculpture at Texas State University and is a member of ICOSA Collective, an Austin based Arts Collective. She received a BFA in glass from Rhode Island School of Design in 2001 and her MFA in sculpture from Mills College in 2011. She relocated to Austin in 2017 from Oakland, CA where she taught Sculpture at City College of San Francisco and Cabrillo College. Hirneisen has done residencies through Free Oakland UP and the Hungarian Multicultural Center. She has been awarded a Community Initiatives grant through the City of Austin, an Individual Artist Grant through the City of Oakland’s Cultural Arts Program and a Phelan, Murphy & Cadogan fellowship from the San Francisco Foundation for graduate students in the arts. Hirneisen has exhibited her work extensively throughout the US as well as Hungary, Korea and England.