SARAH STONE

TOT ZINES collaborates with local artists in Antwerp, Belgium. Initiated by Sarah Stone in 2024, who invited digital creator Sarah Mayer to publish her set of paintings zing that she created in 2017. This is the first publication for TOT ZINES, RISO-printed by SO-RI in Antwerp.

“Henri Matisse once described art as “a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair”. When I created the zing drawings, I was working full-time in retail. Anyone who has worked in retail will know that it doesn’t exactly spark creativity. Mentally, I wasn’t in a great place. Two years earlier, in 2015, I had graduated from Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI) in Fashion and Design. During graduation, whilst on my path to glory, I fell into a burnout. I was searching for something. Today, I find myself still on that quest.

Revisiting the paintings and drawings in zing, I realize how much they helped me to continue on my journey for finding peace of mind through creative expression. I had picked up the paint, pencils, and markers. I was bursting with creativity, yet I didn’t know how or where to channel it. When the mind is overwhelmed with ideas, how do you handle them? zing became the pathway to discover what was next. The drawings presented in this zine embody the free spirit and the love for creating purely for the joy of it — no goals, no purpose, just pure fun.

Reflecting on the works of art, I am amazed at how colorful they are compared to my current portfolio of work. Shapes and colors come together gleefully on a canvas, painted in a frenzy over a few weeks to then be left behind as a new passion and focus emerged. That new passion? Digital art. However, I needed these drawings at that time to help free my mind. Today, in 2024 — a challenging year for many, myself included —
I feel the urge to pick up the brushes and wait for the shapes and colors to come together again.”
— Sarah Mayer