Sarah Tew, born in Cumbria, UK, in 1987, is an interdisciplinary artist now based in London. Her practice spans painting, drawing and installation, with a particular focus on nature and landscape. Tew’s work navigates the tension between landscape as both a lived, emotional experience and a tangible material we physiacally relate to. Through her art, she examines how we engage with the landscape—not only in terms of its shifting light, textures, and forms but also as a physical presence that shapes our perceptions and histories.
Growing up in the Lake District, Tew developed a profound connection to the landscape that continues to inform her practice. The rich and diverse environment of Cumbria—the lakes, fells, and ever-changing skies—becomes both subject and material for her work. For Tew, landscape is not merely an external scene to be captured but an ever-evolving relationship between the artist, the land, and the viewer. Working in-situ, she often allows the landscape itself to influence her creative process, reflecting nature's fluidity and the impermanence of its elements.
Tew’s engagement with landscape painting is rooted in both historical and contemporary contexts. As a female artist working within the tradition of landscape painting—a genre historically dominated by male artists—Tew challenges and reinterprets the ways in which the natural world has been depicted. Throughout the history of landscape painting, the genre has often been used to convey a sense of control over nature, with artists portraying grand, monumental vistas or idealized, untouched wilderness. Tew’s approach, however, focuses on the subtle and the intimate, exploring landscape not as something to be conquered or idealized, but as something we are continuously in dialogue with—something that can be both beautiful and uncertain, serene yet unstable.
In her work, Tew reclaims the landscape as a space of both emotional and physical engagement. Her landscapes are infused with a sense of presence and personal connection, often focusing on the smallest details—whether it's the shifting light on a moss-covered rock or the texture of the wind on the water’s surface. By drawing attention to these quiet, fleeting moments, Tew introduces a new way of relating to the landscape, one that invites vulnerability and reflection rather than domination.
Her use of colour and space reflects the materiality of the landscape—the way earth, air, and light coexist and constantly change. This engagement with the physicality of nature allows Tew to consider landscape not just as a backdrop to human activity, but as an active, living entity that interacts with us on multiple levels. Through her interdisciplinary approach, Tew’s work encourages a rethinking of how we connect with and understand the natural world.
Her work is held in the University of the Arts London Collection, Art Gazette, and private collections across Europe, the USA, Canada, and Australia. Tew continues to expand the conversation around landscape painting, offering new perspectives and inviting viewers to engage with the landscape; not just as a place, but as a complex, evolving relationship.