Artist Statement – December 2025

I grew up mostly in Eastern Wyoming on a large multi generational ranch. My personal connection with horses starts countless generations before me, as the sixth generation to come from the banks of Spring Creek I was plopped onto horses before I could walk or talk. Later on I would help earn my keep by riding after livestock that the family raised. My home life wasn’t the picturesque cowgirl dream it sounds like, the turmoil of poverty and mental illness was unpredictable and violent. Yet I could go to the barn and find responses from the horses of a warm snort, a big sigh, a mane smelling of grass and sweat constantly and reliably.

As a teenager I stumbled onto a glass studio that was owned by a soon to be mentor and friend, Rahman Anderson. From the first moment I saw the glowing blob of lava like glass I knew it was an answer for my future. The mesmerizing properties of hot glass enchanted me. Having the opportunity to express myself in glass has opened unimaginable doors of self fulfillment and validation. Being accepted and immersed into the community of glass has helped me find my voice and self.

This body of work is an answer of prayers to seen and unseen relatives, as well as an honoring to them. Survival of the harshness and tenderness is a balance, one similar to the dance of glass making. The fragility of a personal goal or dream, the power of nature and animals, specifically horses, and the impact they have facilitated in me and the countless generations before me. Being close to earth and its inhabitants is a sacred gift to be cherished. The power and unmerciful power of horses specifically has had an unforgettable impact on my outlook, self expression and even onryness.

About the Artist Sara Ficklin is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe with family heritage from the Minnicoujou (Planters by the water)