Sara Breinlinger

I make small and large-scale abstract paintings and hand-painted collages in my studio in Hackney, East London.

My work begins with making and remaking. I paint, cut, tear and layer, building structures from fragments of my own painted papers and drawings. Shapes lean against one another, edges don’t quite meet, and something that seemed settled gets shifted again.

I’m interested in the point where an arrangement holds together while still feeling slightly uncertain. Sometimes a painting begins to suggest a body, a building or somewhere familiar. I follow that recognition without fixing it too firmly. Earlier decisions remain visible, carrying something of the painting’s history into the finished work.