Sarah Dinnick: The Body Terrain

United Contemporary is delighted to present The Body Terrain, a reflective suite of photographic works by Sarah Dinnick. Created during a profound period of grief and loss, these pieces serve as an unearthing, explored through veiled self-portraits of the body in intimate commune with the natural world. Bare, enmeshed, and entwined, the imagery is cloaked in reflection and shadow, with the lens never fully directed at the artist’s physical form. 

Using her practice as a pathway to healing, Dinnick delves into the transcendent power of grief. The intimate moments captured invite viewers into a shared emotional space, evoking a universal human condition. Grief connects us to parts of ourselves long forgotten, and it binds us to one another. It is an act of remembering, of defiance, and of reclamation.

"Sometimes life brings you to your knees and to a place that you didn’t think you were capable of going. You work to discover who you really are and it’s almost like dissection. But without the anesthetic."

The openness and themes explored in The Body Terrain are, in many ways, not a vast departure from Dinnick’s broader oeuvre. While her previous work, which explores the delicacy between connection and isolation as we move through communal spaces,  may seem distinct, it has always conveyed underlying themes of longing, loss, beauty, and the intimate distances between us. Moreover, it reflects the precarious nature within each of us. In this new body of work, by turning the camera on herself, Dinnick's approach becomes an act of reclamation.

Sarah Dinnick is a Canadian photographer, visual communicator and founding partner of the award-winning design firm Dinnick & Howells. Dinnick's work has been exhibited in numerous group and solo shows in Canada and the US and is included in international corporate and private collections. She studied Art History at McGill University, and Visual Communications at the Ontario College of Art and Design and the Pratt Institute. Dinnick is an active member of Canada’s arts community, serving on numerous boards and photography acquisition committees. As well as working within the arts community, Dinnick is committed to the cause of human rights and helped establish Human Rights Watch in Canada over 20 years ago. She has served as its Chair and sits on the Executive Board. Dinnick lives and works in London and Toronto.