Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Taitano.
Hi Sarah, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Originally from Saipan & Guam, I’m a mixed Micronesian islander (Palauan/Chamorro/Ulithi & more). Professionally, I’m a Social Worker by trade, and personally, an artist by passion. mixed•media art was something I resorted to since I was younger as a form of self-care, creative expression & cultural identity.
Growing up, you could find me in a tangerine tree on my family plot in Saipan, “spotting” with my cousins- eating mango, star fruit and bananas from the yard – or under the flame tree playing swords with the seed pods. This was the 90s. My Y2K adolescence started in Guam, where I met the computer & the technology that helped me take my creative pursuits further. If you needed a unique Myspace layout from scratch, it would be me behind that screen with the custom art and divs. Because 20 years ago, Digital Art was not something that was a “successful” career choice- I chose to pursue the better thing – and that was saving the world. I became a social worker specializing in mental health, human rights advocacy and spent 8 years in Crisis & Trauma services. For years, I’ve been creating graphic art for my personal use, for non-profits with agencies I was a part of or collaborated with, community events, as well as clients who sought my services whether it be custom logos, small business palettes, and other requests such as tattoos.
I was able to take on these tools when I moved into the field of sustainability where I applied data management/communications within the past couple of years. While I’m in Jacksonville, I’m focusing a lot of my time on my family & appreciating the room to stay creative while I’m at it. I’m still growing up everyday, like the rest of us.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’d say it’s been a smooth journey, all thanks to my personal relationship with art & how I choose to share it. I’ve managed to let my art take its own courses through the years. I create and produce when the energy is right & rest when creative spark is low. This has become the foundation of a slow business model that allows room for me to always go at my own pace & let things evolve by producing / offering small batches at a time. The pace has provided me opportunities to collaborate with others, as well as explore sustainability- trying my best to avoid causing harm in a world of fast & unhealthy pollution when it comes to being a provider of tangible things beyond a screen. I started off selling art on Society6, now I sell them off my own website & they are things I personally make at home. Whichever chapter I was on, staying conscious and honoring my flow kept a lot of mistakes & challenges out of reach.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a creative, I feel like I try and fall in love with so many endeavors! My graphic design services range from custom business logos, prints, tattoo designs and black label apparel. My designs focus on indigenous island inspirations, sacred symbols, celestial oceanic connections and human rights. I also enjoy carving locally inspired jewelry out of wood- but specially from the Ifit tree, known to the Mariånas and Palau for centuries of indigenous use. I don’t find myself creating to set myself apart – but more to express how I’m a part of an indigenous Oceania. The connections made with that notion enhances inclusion & that no matter where we are in the world, we’re all navigators walking each other home. “More Art x Less War” is an intentional effort to be solutionary in a world of conflict – “creation over destruction,” “equity over injustice,” & “to be indigenous, because our double helix means we all come from somewhere.” You can follow my pursuits online via Instagram & new to Tiktok (@moreartxlesswar) – or explore my growing gift•shop at www.moreartxlesswar.com.
How do you think about happiness?
Freedom, because it means so much. There is freedom in being with your family and loved ones in peace, freedom to love, freedom to connect with others & freedom to create.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.moreartxlesswar.com
- Instagram: moreartxlesswar
- Facebook: moreartxlesswar
- Other: Tiktok: MoreArtxLessWar
