Rainbows, Stones and Ghosts is a two-part exhibition of multi-dimensional drawings about the almost and the not-yet-made. My Project-in-Lieu-of Thesis exists physically as a series of oil paintings, works on paper, and a site-specific sculptural installation. With recurring imagery of rainbows, stones, and construction debris, the works reimagine their subjects as icons and objects of potential. Highlighting time, labor, and material, my project questions the creation of value, status, and the concept of the ‘ideal’. My drawings dissolve the boundary between the absence and presence by continuously breaking down, expanding, and reimagining their surfaces, subjects, and sites. Rainbows, Stones and Ghosts is an invitation to navigate the ‘almost’ as an immersive space of possibility.

Art work of oil on canvas by artist Sarah DePetris, as part of an exhibition entitled " Rainbows, Stones & Ghosts (Part II)" in the Cora Stafford Gallery (South), College of Visual Arts & Design, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, from April 5-8, 2023. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

Art work in Acrylic Gesso & Graphite on Paper by artist Sarah DePetris, as part of an exhibition entitled "Stones & Ghosts (Part I)" in the Union Art Gallery, University Union, University of North Texas, from March 27 - April 6, 2023. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

Art work of oil on linen by artist Sarah DePetris, as part of an exhibition entitled " Rainbows, Stones & Ghosts (Part II)" in the Cora Stafford Gallery (South), College of Visual Arts & Design, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, from April 5-8, 2023. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

Art work of oil on linen by artist Sarah DePetris, as part of an exhibition entitled " Rainbows, Stones & Ghosts (Part II)" in the Cora Stafford Gallery (South), College of Visual Arts & Design, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, from April 5-8, 2023. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

Digital photograph of installation view of exhibition by artist Sarah DePetris, entitled "Stones & Ghosts (Part I)" in the Union Art Gallery, University Union, University of North Texas, from March 27 - April 6, 2023. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

Installation view (digital photo) of 2023 MFA exhibition by artist Sarah DePetris, entitled "Stones & Ghosts (Part I)" in the Union Art Gallery, University Union, University of North Texas, from March 27 - April 6, 2023. Photograph by Stephanie Gerhart.

Installation view (digital photo) of exhibition by artist Sarah DePetris, entitled "Stones & Ghosts (Part I)" in the Union Art Gallery, University Union, University of North Texas, from March 27 - April 6, 2023. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

Installation view of MFA Thesis exhibition by artist Sarah DePetris, entitled "Stones & Ghosts (Part I)" in the Union Art Gallery, University Union, University of North Texas, from March 27 - April 6, 2023. Digital photo, photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

Installation View of an MFA exhibition by artist Sarah DePetris, entitled " Rainbows, Stones & Ghosts (Part II)" in the Cora Stafford Gallery (South), College of Visual Arts & Design, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, from April 5-8, 2023. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

Installation View of an MFA exhibition by artist Sarah DePetris, entitled " Rainbows, Stones & Ghosts (Part II)" in the Cora Stafford Gallery (South), College of Visual Arts & Design, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, from April 5-8, 2023. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

Installation View of an MFA exhibition by artist Sarah DePetris, entitled " Rainbows, Stones & Ghosts (Part II)" in the Cora Stafford Gallery (South), College of Visual Arts & Design, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, from April 5-8, 2023. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

Installation View of an MFA exhibition by artist Sarah DePetris, entitled " Rainbows, Stones & Ghosts (Part II)" in the Cora Stafford Gallery (South), College of Visual Arts & Design, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, from April 5-8, 2023. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart. Center: Heavy / Light (2019-2021), Oil on Linen, 66? x 90?. Left: Stones & Ghosts (#1), 14 x 11 in., Masking Tape, Oil Paint, and Tape Residue on Page from The Martian Landscape, NASA SP-425, (2019-2022), non-archival. Right: Stones & Ghosts (#2), 14 x 11 in., Oil Paint, and Tape Residue on Page from The Martian Landscape, NASA SP-425, (2019-2022), non-archival.

Site-Specific installation view of 2023 MFA exhibition by artist Sarah DePetris, entitled "Stones & Ghosts (Part I)" in the Union Art Gallery, University Union, University of North Texas, from March 27 - April 6, 2023. Made with production, design, fabrication & installation collaboration from artist Hugh Thompson. Photograph by Stephanie Gerhart.

Site-specific installation during MFA Thesis exhibition by artist Sarah DePetris, entitled "Stones & Ghosts (Part I)" in the Union Art Gallery, University Union, University of North Texas, from March 27 - April 6, 2023. Made with production, design, fabrication and installation collaboration from artist Hugh Thompson. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

Site-specific installation during MFA Thesis exhibition by artist Sarah DePetris, entitled "Stones & Ghosts (Part I)" in the Union Art Gallery, University Union, University of North Texas, from March 27 - April 6, 2023. Made with production, design, fabrication and installation collaboration from artist Hugh Thompson. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

Site-specific installation during MFA Thesis exhibition by artist Sarah DePetris, entitled "Stones & Ghosts (Part I)" in the Union Art Gallery, University Union, University of North Texas, from March 27 - April 6, 2023. Made with production, design, fabrication & installation collaboration from artist Hugh Thompson. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

I make work that engages the porous and sensate body. The larger question for me is the interdependency of how we exist within our environment and how our environment exists in us. Caves, deep time, and the feminine landscape factor into my work, as well as thinking beyond a humancentered narrative to address concerns about the earth. My process involves using raw pigment, wax, rain, dirt, and the language of abstraction to point to a raw, interior space. My source material is equal parts imagination and field research, most recently into cave systems.

My artwork is a record of mundane yet impactful experiences of everyday life. The subject of memory and my interest in pictorial space create a visual narrative of the physical and metaphorical ways I navigate the world. I envision space as sometimes a place of comfort, or at times a souvenir of a distant event. Through my paintings, I process and rediscover the past through the intimacy and tactility of mark-making. Each work presents a bittersweet narrative where I examine the complex circumstances that have brought me to a specific moment in time.

I use the domestic as a locale to consider the function of a queer body within the “American Dream.” I frequently remove the objects from their intended uses through various methods of alterations. Breaking things down to queer identity, objects, space, and community, I consider each object as a stand-in for individuals liberated from the pressure of preconceptions and mastery. Each lends itself towards the community identity, serving individually as separate functions within the experience, but also collectively serving as an invitation for on-lookers to join this community that we would define together.

In my work, I create collections of small objects from a variety of materials and curate them into a larger composition in space. These objects are made from clay, wood, paint, sand, beads, cardboard, paper, yarn, tape, and other materials. I arrange these objects into a composition that is informed by painting, which manifests as the wall and floor serving as substrate, along with vinyl shapes delineating areas of the painting as a whole. In these arrangements I aim to break away from taught boundaries in regards to physical space and expectations of familiar materials.

Works of art on Digital drawing inkjet print, encaustic wax, silic by artist Erika Jaeggli as part of a 2022 MFA exhibition, entitled "A Dog Named Robot" in the Cora Stafford Gallery South, 1201 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX 76201, April 6 - 9, 2022.

Works of art on Raw pigment, graphite, watercolor, acrylic, ink, p by artist Erika Jaeggli as part of a 2022 MFA exhibition, entitled "A Dog Named Robot" in the Cora Stafford Gallery South, 1201 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX 76201, April 6 - 9, 2022.

Works of art on Raw pigment, graphite, watercolor, acrylic, ink, p by artist Erika Jaeggli as part of a 2022 MFA exhibition, entitled "A Dog Named Robot" in the Cora Stafford Gallery South, 1201 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX 76201, April 6 - 9, 2022.