ABOUT

• Born in Pasadena, California, Sarah Risko is a Japanese-Mexican American artist and designer based in Austin, Texas. Originating her art practice in dramatic baroque-style oil paintings, she has transformed into an artist who moves fluidly between disciplines. As a multidisciplinary artist, she explores the emotional terrain and inherent connection between women and the natural world, intertwining the culture of her ancestors and stories shared among the women in her family.

  Risko’s artistic journey began at the Austin School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where early training in theatre shaped her approach to image-making. She later earned her Associate of Arts in Studio Art from Blinn College and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design from Bellevue University. She works closely with the Austin Community through her fellowship with Future Front Texas, her former internship as the Visual Communication and Outreach intern with Women & Their Work. She is currently in the Soho House x Creative Future Collective Mentorship, working with 24 other Austin creatives.

  Through painting and mixed media, Risko creates scenes in which the female figure and landscape engage in meaningful conversation. With a basis in personal narrative yet extending into broader cultural associations of water with intuition and transformation, she is committed to creating an environment connected to waterways and coastal regions. The aquatic forms create a dialogue between the women depicted in Risko’s narratives. Her work explores sexuality, autonomy, and vulnerability, examining how identity and environment weave into each other. She uses these narratives that connect bodily autonomy and the Earth to advocate for environmental reciprocity. Nostalgia serves as a central force in her practice, shaping imagery that reflects both memory and myth. Rooted in her identity and cultural perspective, her work seeks to uncover the shared language between body, land, and time.