Spotlight Artist

Sabrina Piersol

MFA Annual
Artist profile photo

arc/afterglow

Abstract painting with swirling orange shapes, a glowing white circle, and a dark background.

oil on canvas

inland echo

Surreal landscape with swirling colors, fiery clouds, and abstract plants by a river.

oil on canvas

now again / efflorescent

Abstract painting with large blue flowers, orange accents, and white botanical details.

oil on canvas

Featured in New American Paintings1 / 3

Artist Statement

 Collapsing inner and outer vision onto canvas, Sabrina Piersol investigates the value of the fragment as it relates to Archaic Greek, sapphic poetry through her environmental paintings. These works raise questions around desire, temporality, and speculative extrapolation by negotiating conceptual inquiry and visual logic. Piersol intends for her paintings to be accessible in their abstraction through combining explicit allusions to the natural world with purely abstract forms via a singular, cohesive painting language that prioritizes bold color and melodic composition. Silent deserts, sparkling topography, and bodily florals remain rich references for the artist. Each piece is an invitation to envision the alternate pasts and possible futures that simultaneously exist within each of us.

Discover more artists from the MFA Annual

THE MAGAZINE

Explore our magazine to discover exceptional artists

Open magazine with text, modern illustrations, and a list of artists on a pink background.
View issues

Call for Artists

Submit your work for consideration

New American Paintings is a juried exhibition-in-print and digital, presenting the work of 40 emerging artists in each issue.

View competitions

Your gateway to new art

Discover tomorrow's art stars, today

Two books on a wooden table with a modern decorative sculpture in the background.

PRINT + EARLY ACCESS DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION

$179/YEAR

DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION

$99/YEAR OR $10/MONTH

Each issue of New American Paintings features forty artists selected through our juried competitions—presented in a beautifully curated, full-color publication. Subscribers receive six issues per year, plus exclusive online access to current and past editions. Are you a collector? Consider our premium subscription and receive our museum-quality printed publication + access to each new digital issue two weeks before its general release.