At Lazarides we admittedly (albeit sheepishly) pride ourselves on the unconventional approach of our artists. California-based Sage Vaughn is yet another one.
Whilst his pictures use motifs often seen around this way - animals in Vaughn’s Wildlife series, superheroics in his Wildlives project – they are handled with considerable sensitivity and intelligence. In Wildlife the less-than-straightforward co-existence of nature and technology is portrayed in the most subtle of ways, via illustration that’s contemporary in the height. A seemingly simple picture of a bird perching on a branch, as a helicopter approaches, instantly bathes the viewer in all the mixed feelings one should have at seeing such a scene - but rarely stops to consider. In Wildlives, children in jury-rigged costumes and battle armour prepare for action, and a young worker, a frustrated shop clerk perhaps, dons a cape.
This all comes from a moustachioed gun nut. There are more surprises to Vaughn: “He thinks of art as a privilege, not a gift ... Vaughn approaches his studio at 9am and leaves at 6am unless he’s preparing for a show, when he never leaves. He is the only artist with a blue-collar mentality,” said Malibu magazine. And they should know.
