IN THE STUDIO WITH STEPHAN SAGMILLER
- Victoria Hood, Founder
- Jun 13
- 5 min read
A Discovery of the Artist's Photographic Language
Stephan Sagmiller’s exhibition Lawns at Standard Space is rooted in his fascination with the American lawn. In this new body of work, grass is not merely a background for skies and mountains, but an expressive subject. He uses a large format camera to capture the immense detail of each scene, and the grasses (from wild, artificial turf, genetically modified experiments, imported and domestic industrial lawns, and other hybrids) in this collection are made exclusively on expeditions to California. From several years of photography, the collection has grown into a kind of specimen gathering, offering varied forms and spaces. At the heart of it all, Sagmiller is searching for a “holotype” - an iconic specimen from which new species are defined.
Where did you grow up and what is your first impactful memory of art?
In middle school, I’d skip lunch just to draw—I remember thinking it was a bummer that nobody wanted to join me. Then I started winning regional art contests and suddenly it was like, oh, okay—this guy has got something. I was fast-tracked into the Northwest College of Art. It was an eye opener, the courses were intense, they were all about rendering and I made tons of Plein air charcoal landscapes there trying to align my hand and eye. It was a savagely bucolic place. It looked a lot like Troutbeck, everything was perfect, I loved it and I loved looking at the world that way.
When did you know you wanted to pursue your career in art? What path did you take to become an artist?
After a career in commercial art as a photographer and retoucher, and a few successful photography shows with the Time Square Art Alliance and ICP, I started thinking seriously about higher education. I enjoyed contemplating about art so I sat in on Jed Pearl’s Modernism class at the New School, and sat in on Yale crits with Gregory Crewdson. I also spent three years studying philosophy and aesthetics. But ultimately, I chose RISD for an MFA in photography in 2012, which was a great decision. I met a lot of my closest friends there, and it lead to a wonderful show called Clouds at the Griffin Museum of Photography.
In your own words, how would you describe the difference between photography for art versus other photography?
We flirt dangerously close to a definition of art here. I like to tell my students that there are as many forms of photography as there are forms of writing. Sometimes its fiction or poetry, or just the back of a Brillo box. But, the problem with photography over other mediums is that it’s not plastic like painting, so we treat the photograph as intuitive, “seeing is believing,” and if that’s true, then seeing becomes knowing, because we trust our intuition and that gets messy.
What makes photography unique as a medium is its precise drawing of the world. Someone had to be there, and frame the view, you see every blade of grass. Through the fragmentation and camera work, one could use photography to mislead. But even so, subtle clues point to an underlying truth that’s always already visible.
In art, we are admiring the sprit of an artist and their commitment, and following a photographic language that each artist builds on. And when the stars align, hopefully the work transcends and takes us somewhere and creates a unique experience.
How does it feel to have your first solo show at Standard Space?
The feedback as been fantastic! With so many new galleries opening and accomplished artists in the area, Northwest Connecticut, I think it’s hard not to think of it as a serious destination for contemporary art. I’ve seen a lot of outsider scenes come and go, I think CT has something pretty rare, like a new Marfa. It requires a lot to keep the oxygen flowing outside of LA and NY. You have to have strong community and savvy collectors to maintain it. You also need a gallery for the scene to rally around that is willing to show bold new contemporary art, and I feel so fortunate to be included in the conversation at the gallery, and very excited to finally be able to share this work with all of the amazing people I’ve met in the area.
What is the inspiration behind the works?
Steven B. Smith recommended I watch Chinatown by Roman Polanski. It really hit me. I started Lawns in LA in the summer of 2016 during their seasonal droughts. Almost everything feels like it’s been photographed, and I was very excited to find so much that I hadn’t fully noticed or seen before in the subject. There’s been a lot of contemporary thinking about photography’s connection to abstraction, not all of it great, perhaps which is why I started experimenting in the opposite direction; pushing the work to be more life-like and detail-rich, to speak to the medium in 2025, and exploring new ways to connect concepts of abstraction while feeling out a relationship between beauty and photography.
What is your favorite piece in the show and why?
My favorite thing about the work is that it’s a collection of photographic holotypes. A term co-opted from a botany, used to represent a specimen that all new species are based. I like the poetry in that. The whole collection is as important, or more important, than any one piece.
Kentucky bluegrass is the most commonly used lawn, it’s our collective “favorite.” I hope the work shows that there is so much more out there and starts a conversation about choosing.
What do you have next on the horizon?
I’m most productive when working on several projects at once, I tend to process subconsciously, so while ideas are percolating on one, I’m pushing others forward. I’m sequencing a monograph of the complete collection of Lawns, which I hope to get published. I’m also working a series of urban landscapes in Modena, Italy. I enjoy teaching, I’m planning to continue offering private workshops and will seek out new opportunities to build on our local scene here in NW CT.
Any last words of advice to aspiring artists?
So much comes down to commitment. An even balance between your work, one’s voice, art history, and being a genuine fan of other artists, and exhibition design. To develop your work you have to be able to trust yourself, this will constantly be tested, either through self doubt, your dealer, or friends. It’s just not possible to keep the ship pointed due north without a fully formed opinion of what your work should stand for.
Stephan Sagmiller
LAWNS
May 17th - June 22nd
Standard Space
147 Main Street, Sharon, CT 06069
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