Sabrina Small's new work is a collection of paintings, drawings and stitchings created over the last three years. Before moving to Berlin in September of 2002, Small made her home in Sarasota, Florida. She has exhibited throughout the state of Florida, as well as in San Francisco, New York, London, Budapest and Berlin.
Small's most recent works are hand-stitched drawings inspired by the "Black Block," a direct action group that is part of the social movement in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg, where she is presently living. The "Black Block" appears regularly on the streets of Berlin, often as part of larger demonstrations, marching and fighting against neo-naziism, social cutbacks or the revocation of civil rights, and use props such as fireworks, colored eggs and bricks to get their points across. While her earlier work is mainly painted on wood and paper, Small recently began experimenting with hand stitchings on material such as black felt and wearable fabric.
As in the stitchings, the girls in her paintings and works on paper are also involved in a kind of fight. In these pieces, however, the girls are on the run, escaping or in hiding. Defense is their main concern and their struggle is more about saving and protecting one another than winning the battle. The settings give no indication as to where these wars are happening, have happened or will happen and resemble organic formations or intestinal-like environments rather than actual landscapes - the war within the man, so to speak.