Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Problem Of Originality In The Work Of Sarah Lucas, Chelsey Burch

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Sarah Lucas is a contemporary British artist known for satirical and often crudely sexual assemblages and photographs. Although she is often celebrated for this brazen imagery, this essay investigates the stark contradictions found between her statements and her work, particularly in contrasting her claims of originality with her similarities to the work of such artists as Louise Bourgeois and Marcel Duchamp. Through analyzing interviews and comparing her work with that of other famous artists throughout modern history, it posits that her strategy entails the purposeful imitation of a variety of inconsistent styles. Her work questions the idea of originality itself …