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Selfportrait
. SARAH SNAZELL
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"Tooth & Nail", 1996
oil on canvas
170x83cm
"Angels", 1998
oil on canvas
45x30cmcm
"Doppelgaenger", 1998
oil on canvas
140x119cm(1=collection The Estate of Sarah Snazell, 2=collection Neil&Debra Confrey,
3=collection Brecknock Museum)
Sarah Snazell was born in 1965 in Abergavenny/South Wales; she died there in 1999. After a foundation course at Newport College of Art, she followed it up by a BA Honours course and a Masters degree at Leeds University. She lived in Leeds where she founded the Jackson Yard Artists' Studio. Sarah Snazell has been described as "one of the most original and talented figurative painters to have emerged from Wales in the past decade". The tribute was made by Anne Price-Owen in an article in PLANET No.139. Its covers depicted Sarah's paintings, Losers Weepers and Doppelgaenger. "Doppelgaenger", was acquired by the Brecknock Museum Art Trust while the Contemporary Art Society for Wales purchased her painting "Blind Man's Buff" in 1999. Her painting "Lost For Words" was featured on the cover of the book "One Woman, One Voice", a collection of works by leading Welsh playwrights, published by Parthian Press in 2000. Another Parthian Press book, "New Welsh Drama II", published in 2001, had her painting "Cribyn" on its cover.
Snazell worked predominantly in oils on very large canvases, often using the Black Mountains around Abergavenny as a backdrop. The first painting she exhibited at the 1994 National Eisteddfod was "Five Ways". After her death, Sir Kyffin Williams, president of the academy, paid tribute to Sarah and described her as a "true talent and a lovely person ". He said "In the academy we felt strongly that we wanted to look to the future and we saw that future in Sarah." In 2002 a retrospective memorial solo exhibition of her work was held at the Hill Court Gallery in Abergavenny.
Awards: She won two major awards in successive Royal Cambrian Academy 'Young Painter of the Year' biennial exhibitions; she was also made the youngest member of the academy.
Commissions: "Angels" was commissioned by Neil&Debra Confrey
