Sabina Savage

Fairy Tales in Silk

Diving into a favorite painting is a pleasure, picturing the story within is an adventure. Sabina Savage creates art that is truly immersive, fashioning pieces that place silky, colorful objects in your hands, an invitation to fold, loop, and, drape those fantasies, as well as revisit them!

Gwynned Vitello: I imagine you wandering forests, talking to foxes, and waiting for owls to visit at bedtime when you were a kid.

Sabina Savage: That’s close to the truth. I grew up in the English countryside in an old farmhouse away from any towns. My parents are also animal lovers, so I had a very naturalistic upbringing—dogs, cats, horses, chickens, and the occasional sheep. I remember my parents rescuing a jackdaw with an injured wing. We it named Jack! We’d put on an old glove and he’d fly around the garden and land on our hands. Once back into the wild, he’d follow us along the lanes. There is a small copse of woodland behind my parents where my sister and I spent hours following trails to see where foxes and badgers made their homes.

Did you enjoy fairy tales like the Brothers Grimm? There’s both a feral and tender mood in your work.

I’ve always loved macabre fairy tales like the Brothers Grimm. When I was older, I moved on to Angela Carter whose book of short stories, The Bloody Chamber, is based on folk and fairy tales, but she extracts often unsettling themes, adding a feminine, gothic edge. Recently I’ve become enthralled with Shirley Jackson and am working my way through her works, also gothic and unsettling.

After high school, you were intent on studying fashion, but you’re a supremely talented drawer.