Sarah Sze facts for kids

Sarah Sze (born 1969) is an American artist. She is also a professor of visual arts at Columbia University. Sarah Sze creates art that explores how technology, information, and memories connect with everyday objects.

Her artworks often show objects that seem to be floating or held in place. She uses common, inexpensive items to create amazing art. This shows that even simple things can become valuable art. Her work has been shown all over the world. Many famous museums have her art in their collections.

Early Life and Learning

Sarah Sze was born in Boston in 1969. Her father, Chia-Ming Sze, was an architect. He moved to the United States from Shanghai when he was four. Her mother, Judy Mossman, was a schoolteacher.

Sarah loved to draw all the time when she was a child. She went to Milton Academy. Later, she studied Architecture and Painting at Yale University. She graduated in 1991 with high honors.

Her Art Career

Sarah Sze's art has been shown in many important exhibitions. These include the Whitney Biennial in 2000. She also participated in the Carnegie International in 1999.

Her work has been featured in international art shows. These include the Berlin Biennale (1998) and the Venice Biennale (1999, 2013, and 2015).

Sarah Sze has also made art for public spaces. You can see her public artworks at places like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She also created art for the High Line in New York City.

In 2003, she received a special award called the MacArthur Fellowship. This award is given to talented people who show great creativity.

What She Creates

In 2013, Sarah Sze represented the United States. She showed her art at the Venice Biennale with an exhibition called Triple Point.

On January 1, 2017, a permanent artwork by Sze opened. It was made of drawings on ceramic tiles. This art is in the 96th Street subway station. It is part of the new Second Avenue Subway line in New York City.

In 2020, Sze revealed Shorter than the Day. This is a permanent artwork at LaGuardia Airport.

In 2021, she unveiled another permanent artwork. It is called Fallen Sky. You can see it at Storm King Art Center in New York.

For her 2023 exhibition, Timelapse, Sze created art for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. She made special installations throughout the famous Frank Lloyd Wright building.

Also in 2023, Sze changed a large waiting room. It was at Peckham Rye railway station in London. She turned it into an amazing art experience called The Waiting Room.

How She Makes Art

Sarah Sze uses everyday items in her art. She builds large art pieces called installations. She uses things like string, cotton swabs, photos, and wire. She puts them together to create complex designs. These designs often look like star patterns.

Her art looks a bit messy but is very precise. All the objects, big or small, are connected. This helps her art tell a bigger story. By changing these everyday objects, she gives them new meaning. Her art challenges the idea that sculptures must be solid or made of specific materials. She even includes things like ladders or clips in her finished work. These are usually hidden in art.

Sarah Sze has always pushed the limits of sculpture. She makes still objects look like they are moving. She plans carefully to make her art seem alive. She uses her training in painting and architecture. This helps her explore what sculpture can do beyond just being a solid shape.

Sze also thinks about how people will experience her art. She considers how viewers interact with the objects she chooses. She wants to create a flow of information for people. She thinks about how they will approach, slow down, and look at her art.

Why Her Art Is Important

Sarah Sze's art shows how we see our daily lives and the world around us. She uses objects to record memories. In her work Timekeeper, she creates a kind of time capsule. This connects the objects she uses to a specific year. When she rebuilds old works, she can add new materials. This creates a new time capsule.

Time and memory are big themes in her art. She shows how images can change over time in our memories. Her art often goes in many directions. This makes us think about the unknown.

Sze also thinks about the space her art is in. She considers how her art fits into a gallery or outdoor area. Some of her round artworks let people walk inside them. This creates an immersive experience. She wants people to feel like they are part of the art. Her background in architecture helps her plan how visitors will move through the space. She thinks about how the building itself shapes her art.

When her art is outdoors, Sze considers the natural environment. For her artwork Fallen Sky at Storm King Art Center, she made it look like something from space is becoming part of the ground. Other outdoor pieces, like Still Life with Landscape, blend with nature. They create a seamless connection with the environment.

Exhibitions

Sarah Sze has had many solo art shows. These have been in the United States and other countries. Some of her important solo exhibitions include:

• White Room (1997) at White Columns, New York
• Sarah Sze (1999) at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
• Sarah Sze: The Triple Point of Water (2003-2004) at the Whitney Museum, New York
• Triple Point (2013) at the American pavilion, 55th Venice Biennale
• Sarah Sze: Timelapse (2023) at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

She has also been part of many group exhibitions. These include:

• The Berlin Biennale (1998)
• The 48th and 56th Venice Biennale (1999, 2015)
• The Whitney Biennial (2000)
• The Liverpool Biennial (2008)

Art in Public Collections

Many museums and galleries own Sarah Sze's artworks. Here are some of them:

Awards and Honors

Sarah Sze has received many awards for her art.

• 2025 – Meraki Artist Award, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
• 2024 – Elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in London. She became an Honorary Royal Academician.
• 2022 – Asia Arts Game Change Award
• 2020 – Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 2018 – American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York
• 2013 – US Representative for the Venice Biennale
• 2005 – Radcliffe Fellowship
• 2003 – MacArthur Fellowship