Sarah Sanford

Sarah Sanford’s painting explores the enduring and profound connection between humanity and ecology.  Through representations of intimate, contemplative natural environments often framed or punctuated by reminders of the human influence – a rolling landscape with a hint of road, a deserted forest lane with a stop sign.  She composes from a foundation of structure and color that she carefully transforms and elaborates along a continuum of representation – sometimes content with illuminating for the viewer the fundamental intersection of geometry and light through pure abstraction, and in other instances resolving the composition to a detailed personal vignette.

Sanford’s canvases begin with an image that inspires the artist, which she proceeds to de-compose into constituent elements of line, color, and light and then to re-compose in oil, generating in the process a curated experience for the viewer. “When I see an image or a scene, I’m often struck by my immediate emotional response,” says Sanford. “I try to break down the image to its fundamental pieces and then rebuild it, enhancing those emotions through color and structure while discarding elements that obscure the emotional resonance of the piece.” The resulting works evoke our instinctive comity with nature while reminding us of our often-oppositional relationship to the natural state.

Work by Sarah Sanford has been exhibited in numerous open and juried shows, including at Oakton Community College, Northshore YMCA, the North Shore Art League and the Art League of Oak Park. Commission pieces are also available.