Sara Paula Hoffman: paintings, assemblage, works on paper and sculpture

Artist statement

In Forms of Nature, Paula explores the relationship between material, memory, and the natural world. She collects and translates organic forms, bird nests, shells and branches, into evocative works on paper. Through focused observation, she uncovers the hidden narratives within found objects, reimagining them through drawing.

This series reflects Paula’s deep engagement with the act of seeing, of attuning to nature’s quiet details and rendering them anew. Natural textures and imprints become meditations on time and decay. The work invites viewers to experience these forms not as static objects but as whispers of the environment, shifting between recognition and abstraction.

Artist statement

These heads are portrait studies: studies of the human figure, modeled from life with hired models and cast in plaster. Each is finished in its own way, in paint, encaustic, pigmented dye or wax, and set on a base of wood, granite or iron.

Paula’s current studies, in microcrystalline wax, investigate movement and strength in the human form, and are to be cast in bronze.

Artist statement

In Ghosts, Paula delves into the weight of the past and the unseen forces shaping our present. Inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts, this series examines how memory and inheritance linger in our lives, pressing against the boundaries of perception. Ghosts invites viewers backstage to examine materials and props: to feel connected to the moment while reflecting on it from a distance. By engaging with objects and materials as both artifacts and echoes, Paula’s work bridges history and the present, offering a thoughtful meditation on what remains and what fades.

Artist statement

In The Doll House, Paula examines the interplay of domestic life and theatricality, revealing the fragile balance between identity, memory, and performance. Influenced by Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and by reflections on photography in perception, this series invites viewers to step backstage and reflect on the roles we play within family and society. Through layered materials and staged compositions, Paula explores the tension between external appearance and internal truth, bridging the personal and the universal.