Posts by Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled "Embroidered Life" that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
Sculpture
July 22, 2025

Two Decades of an Artist’s Exploration of Timeless Beauty Celebrated in Expansive Exhibition

Artist Karen LaMonte explores concepts of timeless beauty, strength, fragility, and the “fleeting nature of life” through her stunning sculptural works. Porcelain, bronze, glass, and stone are the materials with which she expresses these ideas—and has done so for over two decades. Now, an expansive exhibition at the Munson Museum in Utica, New York, is celebrating her work.

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Dance
July 17, 2025

Watch a Boy Perform Effortlessly Cool “Aura Farming” Moves on a Speeding Boat

Some folks are effortlessly cool, and then there’s Rayyan Arkan Dikha—aka the “Aura Farming Boy” or “Indonesian Boat Racing Kid.” Dikha proved he’s on another level with his style, poise, and confidence. In videos that have gone viral on TikTok and Instagram, the 11-year-old from Indonesia stands at the front of a speeding boat, donning sunglasses and traditional black attire while delivering a calm, smooth dance of fist rolls and arm sweeps.

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Interview
July 14, 2025

Street Artist Shares Personal Meaning Behind Powerful Mural About Life and Death [Interview]

French street artist Enzo is a busy guy. As a muralist and organizer, he’s always planning, painting, or traveling. And sometimes, he’s doing all three. Enzo recently took part in this year’s Bushwick Collective, an internationally recognized art event in Bushwick, Brooklyn, that invites artists from around the world to paint walls in the neighborhood.

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Installation
July 3, 2025

Dazzling Thread Art Installation Stretches String To Create Luminous Indoor Rainbows

Artist Gabriel Dawe is creating rainbows indoors again. Continuing his dazzling Plexus series, the renowned creative has recently installed Plexus no. 46 as part of a group show at Villa Manin in Italy. The exhibition is titled Transparent Architectures (Architteture Trasparenti) and features Dawe’s work alongside incredible artists, including Christina Kubisch, Robert Irwin, Pat White, and Jeppe Hein.

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My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.