Sarita Westrup



Sarita Westrup

About The Artist

Sarita Westrup • Dallas, TX
Basketry • CUSTOM COMMISSIONS

Sarita is a craft based artist rooted in weaving techniques and bricolage. Her sculptural basketry works are inspired by where she was born and raised, the Rio Grande Valley on the Texas - Mexico border. She uses basketry to emphasize tension and reflect on the social and political strain prevalent along the border region marked by its walls and fencing. She combines metal and reed twining techniques with cement to transform the domestic basket into a representation of movement and migration.



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Q&A with the Artist

Tell us how your work is made.

I combine metal and reed twining techniques with cement to transform the domestic basket into a representation of movement. The forms are woven, joined, mudded, painted, and rubbed with graphite and often reference the medium of drawing.


What makes you passionate about the medium you work with?

I love basketry and adore how it honors and takes pride in being a medium based in intimacy. What makes me passionate about the medium is the sense of building in three dimensions with little to no equipment needed. I'm still fascinated by the act of taking single reeds and twining them together to create form with flexibility and strength. My process allows me to weave meditatively and methodically then switch gears into playing with surface textures.

What is something unique about you or your practice?