Sara Anstis Emerges as 2026’s Rising Star
In the ever-evolving landscape of contemporary art, few names are generating as much quiet excitement as Sara Anstis. The Stockholm-born (1991), Salt Spring Island-raised artist, now based in London, has been steadily building a reputation for her dreamlike paintings that blend soft pastels and oils into surreal worlds exploring subjectivity, mythology, and ecology. As highlighted in recent curator picks and collector forecasts, Anstis stands out as one to watch in 2026, with her intuitive, narrative-driven practice gaining momentum amid a surge of interest in figurative yet otherworldly art.
Anstis earned her BFA in Studio Art and Sociology from Concordia University in Montreal in 2013, followed by an MFA in Fine Art from Valand Academy in Gothenburg in 2016. She completed the Drawing Year Postgraduate Programme at the Royal Drawing School in London in 2018. Her upbringing on a remote Canadian island infuses her work with a sense of isolation and connection to nature, where figures—often humanlike yet transformed—interact with anthropomorphic flora, animals, and symbolic objects in luminous, folklore-inspired scenes.
Her sensuous use of medium creates vibrating, materially rich surfaces that draw viewers into ambiguous narratives. Early solo exhibitions like “Pencil of Rays” at Fabian Lang in Zurich (2021) and “Procession” at Kasmin in New York (2022) showcased her shift toward larger oil works alongside intimate pastels. More recent shows include “The Petal and the Wrist” at Various Small Fires in Los Angeles (2023) and “Small Works” at Kasmin (2024), emphasizing her evolving scale and storytelling.
In 2025, Anstis presented “Bath,” a solo exhibition of paintings and works on paper at Perrotin in Tokyo, featuring pieces like Bath (soft pastel on paper, 2025) and Running, Red (oil on panel, 2025). These works continue her exploration of fluid, evocative environments where bodies and landscapes merge in poetic tension. Collectors and critics note her ability to weave auto-fiction with broader themes of resistance, imagination, and ecological interconnection.
Contemporary Art Issue named her among their “8 Artists to Watch in 2026,” praising her sustained momentum and the way her practice bridges personal mythology with universal resonance. With upcoming group shows and fair appearances on the horizon, including potential highlights at major events like Art Basel, Anstis’s trajectory points toward broader recognition in a year focused on innovative figurative painting.
