Sandy lives and works in Salt Lake City, Utah
where she also spends time with her husband
(and webmaster) Erik,and her (mostly) good dog Scruggs

Artist's Statement

A focusing element in my work is to confront the theme of life and death and how this dichotomy can be cast as metamorphoses of states of being. In many ways this is such a fundamental theme of our existence as to be at once too simple and too pervasive to be fully comprehended. As I continue to confront this theme I consider how to create a feeling of connection between these seemingly disparate states. I want somehow to evoke a sense of movement and continuity from this life on earth evolving, or dissolving, into a state of non-being after life is ended. I also want to explore the idea of communication between the two states of life and death. However, it is important to keep this theme subtle and non-obvious in my work. In many ways I desire to keep this as a private communication of my own layered below other more easily decoded communications at the surface of my images.

Most importantly my work is of this place in which I dwell. My daily excursions into the hills are a key factor in everything I create. Much like the quote attributed to Mark Twain, “Write about what you know,” I feel it is important for me to work with the images that I see daily and that have so many personal references for me. Robert Motherwell said “To express the felt nature is the artist's principal concern.” My connection with this place, with these surroundings, and with the fundamental themes of human existence are what I strive to communicate in my work. The small plants, so delicate, and yet so strong in their struggle to survive are what I use to represent my themes. The simplicity of the small plants is elevated to the majestic as they are enlarged to become the central focus of my images, yet they retain their simplicity of form. The background on which these images rest is largely abstract, but is also layered with information at many levels. These icons of the trail represent, to me, the wholeness of our existence, and the nature of our journey through this life.

Selected Recent Shows

2006: One Person Show , Art Access, Salt Lake City, UT

2005: November- Continuation of the Trail, One Person Show, BYU, Provo, Utah

2005-06: November-January - Secondo Piatto, Group Show and Invited Print Exchange, Saltgrass Printmakers Gallery

2005: October - Salt Lake Area Printmakers , Group Show, Patrick Moore Gallery

2005: June-July – The Art of the Book , Group show, The Gallery at Library Square

2005: May-June- 300 Plates , Art Access/VSA arts of Utah. SLC, Utah

2005: February-April- BDAC Statewide Competition , Bountiful, Utah

2005: January-April – Group Show, Great Hall , Utah Museum of Fine Arts, University of Utah, extended loan

2004-05: December-January- Invitational Show, White Out , One Modern Gallery,Sugarhouse, Utah

2004-05: Utah Traveling Exhibition Program, Utah Arts Council, Traveled
throughout Utah

2004: November- Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Faculty Exhibition University of Utah

2004-05: November-January - First Impressions, Group Show and Invited Print Exchange, Saltgrass Printmakers Gallery

2004: September – November – One-person show Trail In Transition,
Finch Lane, Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah

2004: August – September – Utah Arts Council, 2004: Mixed Media & Works on Paper Kimball Art Center, Park City, Utah

2004: Spring Salon , Springville Art Museum, Springville, Utah

2004: June – Invited Artist, Utah Arts Festival, Salt Lake City, Utah

2004: February – April – BDAC Statewide Competition, Bountiful, Utah