Welcome to the 356th installment of A View From the Easel, an ongoing series in which contemporary artists reflect on the physical spaces that shape their daily practices, routines, and creative outputs. In this edition, we visit Brooklyn-based artist Lara Saget as she hauls massive rocks into her multi-zone workspace, collaborates with fellow makers, and brings dynamic glass sculptures to life.
Saget’s creative footprint in New York City spans well over a decade, rooted in a deep appreciation for materials that carry physical weight, historical resonance, and intrinsic transformation. Whether she is orchestrating a delicate glass-blowing collaboration or hoisting heavy stones via a heavy-duty industrial freight elevator, her Brooklyn studio serves as the vital engine room for a multifaceted artistic career.
Lara Saget: Brooklyn, New York
Having maintained a dedicated studio practice since 2013 and settled into her current Brooklyn location since 2018, Saget has spent years cultivating a space that accommodates her ambitious, large-scale visions. Her journey into the New York art scene began right out of graduate school at New York University, when she and five classmates originally leased the expansive industrial space. Together, they partitioned the raw interior, constructing interior walls, storage facilities, a functional kitchen, and even an independent gallery space from scratch.
Over the course of the last eight years, as former studio mates moved on to new chapters, Saget steadily expanded her footprint within the building. Today, she occupies roughly two-thirds of the total square footage, organizing the expansive floor plan into distinct functional zones tailored to her varied material explorations.
An average workday for Saget begins long before she ever crosses the threshold of her studio doors. Believing that personal preparation is just as critical as hands-on making, she starts her mornings with meditation and physical exercise, typically arriving at the studio by the late morning hours. Because her practice encompasses a dizzying array of mediums, her workspace is divided into specialized zones: a dedicated painting section, a fully equipped glass station, a specialized rock room, and a miscellaneous catch-all area reserved for wild cards—such as towering inflatable trees and unpredictable sculptural elements.
Sound plays a major role in how Saget navigates her physical labor. While she once relied heavily on podcasts to pass the hours, her auditory landscape has shifted in tandem with her intellectual pursuits. Currently pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at the Center For Religion and Advanced Spiritual Studies, Saget frequently listens to satsangs—spiritual instruction MP3s delivered by her spiritual teacher—while working through calmer processes like painting. However, when the day demands heavy lifting, mechanical work, or the hauling of dense materials, those spiritual reflections are swapped out for high-energy pump-up music.
The Architecture of a Material-Driven Practice
For Saget, the physical environment of her studio is not merely a backdrop, but an indispensable partner in her creative process. She emphasizes that working on a large scale requires spatial generosity, abundant natural light, and robust infrastructure—luxuries that she approaches with profound gratitude given her early days in the city.
Recalling her early artistic endeavors in her twenties, Saget reflects on a time when she lacked a formal studio and operated without a full understanding of material safety. Admitting with a touch of retrospective caution, she remembers mixing parts A and B of industrial resin inside her residential bedroom nearly two decades ago. Today, having a proper, well-ventilated workspace equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE) and industrial-grade amenities feels like a monumental shift.
Chief among those industrial amenities is a heavy-duty freight elevator capable of bearing thousands of pounds. This structural asset is essential for Saget’s practice, which frequently incorporates massive stones, architectural rocks, and heavy glass components that would otherwise be impossible to transport into a multi-story urban building.
When asked about her absolute favorite material to work with, Saget points directly to glass. Describing it as an amorphous solid—or a slow-moving liquid, depending on one’s philosophical perspective on its molecular structure—she is captivated by the fact that state change is inherently embedded in its very composition. To Saget, glass is not a static medium; it is fundamentally alive.
Furthermore, glass serves as a primary vehicle for community building within her practice. Unlike solitary mediums, working with glass on a large scale is inherently collaborative, demanding that multiple skilled artists coordinate their movements simultaneously. Over the years, these rigorous technical demands have introduced Saget to some of the most talented glass artisans in the field, turning professional collaborations into enduring, lifelong friendships. This collaborative spirit extends to her explorations in stone and metal, with each new material introducing her to specialized craftspeople dedicated to mastering their respective trades.
A Childhood Dream Realized in Brooklyn
Despite the myriad challenges of maintaining an independent art practice in New York City—not least of which is the perennial desire for more square footage—Saget finds immense joy in the environment she has built.
The crown jewel of her studio setup is her bespoke rock room. Dedicated entirely to housing an extensive collection of stones, raw minerals, and ancient relics that she eventually integrates into her sculptural works, the space represents a literal childhood dream come true. Having harbored a deep fascination with rocks since she was a small child, having an entire room designated for sorting, studying, and storing geological specimens feels like a milestone of personal fulfillment.
Just steps away from her geological archive sits another signature fixture of her studio life: a mini trampoline. Having kept a small trampoline in her workspace for years, Saget views it as a whimsical yet essential fixture—a daily physical reminder to remain playful, lighthearted, and open-minded amidst the heavy machinery and rigorous intellectual demands of graduate studies and material fabrication.
Beyond the walls of her own studio, Saget remains deeply plugged into the vibrant cultural fabric of New York City. She frequently finds inspiration at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, particularly enjoying the quiet hours right when the museum opens and just before it closes, wandering through the galleries of ancient Egyptian and Hellenistic sculpture.
Back in Brooklyn, the daily cross-pollination of ideas among the building’s community of fellow artists provides a constant source of creative renewal. Rooted in nearly twenty years of living and working in New York, Lara Saget’s studio stands as a testament to resilience, playful curiosity, and a lifelong dedication to bringing stubborn, elemental materials to life.
