Antonius Roberts and Popopstudios are hosting Sarah Deppe, a sculpture student at the University of Northern Iowa. Sarah is participating in an international exchange programme which came about as a result of a week-long residency recently completed by Antonius Roberts at the University.

During his residency, which was motivated by the Master Artists of the Bahamas Exhibition, Roberts worked with art students to create sculptures using wood and river stones salvaged from the 2008 flood in Sans Souci and Chatauqua park neighborhoods, in Waterloo, Iowa.

Antonius Roberts and Sarah Deppe

“Art is a universal language”, stated Roberts, “and it is an excellent way to develop and promote links around the world. I am sure that this exhibition will be the start of many more exciting collaborations.”

Through her art, Sarah says she seeks to “inspire the viewer’s interest in the earth, change their view of the environment and inform them of critical problems humans are causing to the environment, in a way that doesn’t waste the world’s resources but rather borrows or reuses them.”

On display at the Port of Dubuque until June 2012. Cottonwood bark, rebar, wire mesh, and zip ties. 8' x 11' 5"‘x 13' 5". 900 lbs. $5,000

She says her aim is to “give the Earth a voice.”

One of her sculptures, “Exhaling Dissolution” is currently on display as part of the Art on the River installation of sculptural work along the Riverwalk at the Port of Dubuque. Sarah created the sculpture out of bark  collected from the ground without harming any living trees. In her artist’s statement she says, “This sculpture uses resources productively without endangering the environment on which we depend.”

About Sarah:
Sarah Deppe was born in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1988 and raised in the much smaller town of Maquoketa, Iowa. Sarah has always had a strong passion for the arts. She has been drawing and painting nearly since birth and eventually became very interested in sculpture. She is currently getting her BFA in sculpture from the University of Northern Iowa. While at UNI, Sarah earned a One-Year Department of Art Scholarship from 2007-2008 and earned a place on the Dean’s List in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts from 2006 – 2010. Since 2007, she has exhibited the Annual Department of Art Juried Student Exhibition at the UNI Gallery.