Sara Anstis’s painting constructs fantastical worlds through sensual soft pastels and oil paint, inhabited by female figures who reclaim desire—for better and for worse—surrounded by strange creatures, surreal landscapes, and plants. Her work revolves around themes of subjectivity, Eros, Thanatos, humour, personal mythologies, misunderstandings, and de-anthropomorphisms. She has held solo exhibitions at Kasmin, New York (2022, 2024); Various Small Fires, Los Angeles (2023) and Seoul (2022); Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal; and Fabian Lang, Zurich. Group exhibitions include presentations at Lyles & King, New York; Galerie Derouillon, Paris; Victoria Miro, Venice; and Palazzo Monti, Brescia. She has received grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, Jerwood Arts, and the Anna-Lisa Thomson Foundation. She is represented by Perrotin. She earned a BFA from Concordia University, Montreal (2013), an MFA from Valand Academy, Gothenburg (2016), and completed the Drawing Year Programme at the Royal Drawing School, London (2018). She lives and works in London.