Sara Dykstra (b. 1979, Michigan) is an artist living and working between the Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest. Her practice oscillates between abstraction and representation and encompasses four primary bodies of work.
Working with light-responsive pigments, and metallic and iridescent grounds, Dykstra creates paintings that investigate perception and the experience of nature. Rather than depicting specific places, environments surface intuitively, unfolding one mark at a time into a psychological terrain. Calligraphic gestures and small shapes gather like invented hieroglyphs, echoing natural patterns and the traces of an unseen language. The iridescent surfaces fold fluctuating light directly into the compositions, shimmering with a holographic quality that shifts in luminosity and color as the viewer moves. This optical mutability evokes time, perceptual instability, and multiple ways of seeing. The resulting compositions suggest marine topographies, hillsides, foliage, and currents of air—braided together from memory, culture, and textile-like repetition.
A second series consists of sewn paintings that also reference foliage and nature. Raw canvas is stained with translucent paint, cut apart, and hand-sewn together to form collaged compositions. A third body of work includes representational still lifes painted from handmade maquettes, layered with transparent fabrics pinned in space and observed under specific qualities of natural light. Earlier in her career, Dykstra focused on psychological portraiture, often working from live subjects and incorporating fragmented imagery on metallic backgrounds.
Across all series, Dykstra consistently explores the interaction of translucency, light, and color. Her paintings invite viewers to engage actively, shifting perspective both physically and metaphorically as the work changes with their movement.
Biography
Sara Dykstra received an MFA from the California College of the Arts, San Francisco in 2013 and a BFA from The Maryland Institute, College of Art in 2001. Dykstra has exhibited nationally and internationally, and has been acquired by both public and private collectors. Dykstra was accepted to the Alfred and Trafford Klots International Program for Artists, in Brittany, France, and previously attended the Center for Advanced Art and Culture in Aix-en-Provence, France. She received a Marie Walsh Sharpe Fellowship, and was a Visiting Artist at the Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire. Gallery exhibitions include the Patricia Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco, CA; The Noyes Museum of Art, Oceanville, NJ; The Ethan Cohen Gallery, New York, NY; Root Division, San Francisco, CA; Paul Mahder Gallery, San Francisco, CA; SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA; MarinMOCA, San Rafael, CA
Education
2013 MFA, California College of Arts, San Francisco, CA
2001 BFA, The Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Solo Exhibitions
2019 3333 Sacramento Street, New Paintings, San Francisco, CA
2014 Patricia Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
2009 Gilded Edge Gallery, Hanover, NH
2009 Grosse Pointe Public Library, Grosse Pointe, MI
2004 Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH
Selected Group Exhibitions
2026 UC Law SF, Ripples, San Francisco, CA
2025 Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Art FWD: 5x5x5, San Rafael, CA
2025 ArtSpace, Spectra, Lake Oswego, OR
2024 Bedford Gallery, Cut Paste Create: The Art of Collage, Walnut Creek, CA
2019 SFMOMA Artists Gallery, Fresh Focus, San Francisco, CA
2019 SFMOMA Artists Gallery, Fall Selections from The Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2017 Gallery 2, To What End, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2017 Arkitektura, Sara Dykstra: Selected Work, San Francisco, CA
2017 Daltile, Selections from 48 Pillars, San Francisco, CA
2017 The Arc Gallery, 48 Pillars, San Francisco, CA
2015 The Noyes Museum of Art, MICA: Then/Now II, Oceanville, NJ
2015 Studio 110 Projects, Out of Storage, Sausalito, CA
2014 Studio 110 Projects, SURVEILLANCE everyday, Sausalito, CA
2013 Leidy and Riggs Gallery, Klots International Group Exhibition, Baltimore, MD
2013 The Ethan Cohen Gallery, MICA: Then/Now, New York, NY
2013 Root Division, Introductions, San Francisco, CA
2013 The Paul Mahder Gallery, Group Exhibition, San Francisco, CA
2013 California College of the Arts, MFA Thesis Exhibition, San Francisco, CA
2013 The Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, Painting Symposium, San Francisco, CA
2013 The Arc Gallery, Futures, San Francisco, CA
2012 The Paul Mahder Gallery, Group Exhibition, San Francisco, CA
2011 CAFA Museum, International Exhibition of 2D Works, Beijing, China
2011 The Paul Mahder Gallery, Winter Group Exhibition, San Francisco, CA
2011 Abbey de Lehon, Alfred and Trafford Klots Residency Exhibition, Lehon, France
2010 The Cornish Colony Museum, Illustrating the Imagination, Windsor, VT
2008 AVA Gallery, Winter Exhibition, Lebanon, NH
2006 Detroit Artists Market, Michigan Artists Exhibit: The Governor's Residence, Lansing, MI
2005 4731 Gallery, Detroit Fashion Week: Photography Exhibit, Detroit, MI
2005 The Biddle Gallery, Memories Vivid/Faded, Wyandotte, MI
2005 4731 Gallery, ONE, Detroit, MI
2005 555 Gallery, Art for Art Teachers, Detroit, MI
2003 The Viridian Gallery, Multiple Memorials Exhibition, New York, NY
2003 Americans for the Arts On-line Gallery, Project in FOCUS, New York, NY
2001 Meyerhoff Gallery, BFA Thesis Exhibition, Baltimore, Maryland
2000 The CAAC Gallery, Vernissage, Aix-en-Provence, France
1996 The Colorado College, The Sharpe Fellow Exhibition, Colorado Springs, CO
Public & Private Collections
Chevron Corporate Headquarters, San Ramon, California
Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California
Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, California
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Hanover, New Hampshire
Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Hanover, New Hampshire
Grosse Pointe Public Library, Ewald Branch, Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire
Garibaldis Restaurant, San Francisco, California
Residencies / Selected Awards / Visiting Artist
2017 The Vermont Studio Center, Artist Residency, Johnson, Vermont
2011 California College of the Arts Merit Scholarship
2011 Alfred and Trafford Klots International Program for Artists: Residency. Lehon, France
2003 Visiting Artist: Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire
2000 The Center for Advanced Art & Culture, Aix-en-Provence, France. Honors Program for Excellence in Painting
2000 Art Education Department Recognition Award, Maryland Institute College of Art
2000 Painting Department Recognition Award, Maryland Institute College of Art
2000 Sgt. Ralph Roland Demuth Memorial Award, Maryland Institute College of Art
1999 William Ferguson Merit Scholarship, Maryland Institute College of Art
1999 Maryland Institute Achievement Award, Maryland Institute, College of Art
1998 Foundation Department Recognition Award, Maryland Institute College of Art
1996 The Marie Walsh Sharpe Fellowship, Colorado Springs, CO
Publications & Press
2014 Burger, Mary. “Sara Dykstra, Painter.” Web Blog. ARTICIPLE, May 5, 2014
2013 The Whitefish Review, “dis-Integration 1” (plate included), Missoula, MT
2007 Strut Magazine, (Cover) “Untitled,” January/February Edition, Detroit, MI
2007 Ryan, Kathy. “Walking With Childhood Friends,” Grosse Pointe News, August 23, 2007
2007 Tusa, Susan. “On Location: Grosse Pointe Park,” Detroit Free Press, June 24
2006 Livingston, David. “The Life Artistic: Drawn Together,” Signature Magazine, July/August (Cover, pg. 28), Grosse Pointe, MI
2006 Quinn, Beth. “Learning Inspires Ewald Art,” Grosse Pointe News, May 18, 2006
2005 Stevensen Carter, Laura. “Intensive Care: The Origins of a Bright Idea,” Dartmouth Medicine Magazine, Spring 2005 (Cover, pg. 40), Hanover, NH
2004 Wiencke, Matthew. “Historical Paintings Give Lecture Hall a Major Face-Lift,” Dartmouth Medicine Magazine, Winter 2005, Hanover, NH
2004 Nordoff, Andrew. “Paintings of Medical Achievements Unveiled at Dartmouth Medical School,” Dartmouth News, Summer 2004
2004 Wiencke, Matthew. “Preserving the Past in Paint,” Dartmouth Medicine Magazine, Winter 2004, Hanover, NH
2004 Dalton, Gary. “Dartmouth Medical Murals Unveiled,” Connecticut Valley Spectator, June 17, 2004, Page C1
Lectures / Teaching / Professional Experience
2016 Studio & Materials Assistant to Rosana Castrillo Diaz, San Francisco, CA
2016 Artist Talk, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
2013 Undergraduate Workshop Leader, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2009-10 Education Administrator & Affiliate for the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, Great River Arts Institute, Bellows Falls, VT.
Coordinated Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for the State of Vermont, managed print studio, planned events and designed visual arts courses.
2009-10 Education & Gallery Administration for H2O: Film on Water, Curated by Cynthia Reeves. Gallery management, event planning, artist talks, educational workshops. Great River Arts Institut, Newport, NH
2007-10 Adult and Youth Visual Arts Instructor, Drawing & Painting, AVA Gallery, Lebanon, NH
2005 Life Drawing Workshop, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH
2003-07 Continuing Education Adult and Youth Visual Arts Instructor. Drawing & Painting, Motion Graphics & 2-D Design, Adobe After Effects, Photoshop/Illustrator, Macromedia Flash. College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI