ARTIST STATEMENT
My only goal is to make you stop and look at my work for more than a few seconds, which is the average attention span for most people viewing art. I, too, am guilty of passing quickly through an art exhibition or flipping through a magazine loaded with painting after painting… So how can I hold your gaze? I absolutely refuse to start a painting that won’t even keep me interested enough to finish. I need bright colors, opposing textures, multiple subjects, and the freedom to manipulate natural colors into something wild! We all have cameras, and we can all capture reality just fine on our own. I see no purpose in replicating life as it is but to turn it into what it could have been – an alternate reality. So, please enjoy my playful portfolio filled with the musings in my mind.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Since the age of 10, I knew I wanted to pursue art, and my parents supported my passion without question. My dad in particular embraced my love for all things art, and invested in every material any creator could want. My college education is in illustration, but after graduating from the American Academy of Art in 2012, I switched to fine art painting with zero guidance a year later. I took a job with Newell Rubbermaid – which if you don’t know, owns Sharpie and Prismacolor. I worked on those two brands for a year before I followed a friend to a new job at Bottle & Bottega in La Grange, IL. After 5 years of teaching and managing that location, I felt I exhausted all I could get from the position and made yet another leap – I took a gallery job on the Mag Mile for artist Peter Lik in 2018. During my time with Pete, I took a 2 year hiatus from art all together. My resurgence into the art world started with a full set of oil paints and an opportunity for my first solo show from Chicago’s Tony Fitzpatrick – a successful collage artist. I had two months to create an entire body of work with this new medium for a show February 8th, 2020. Just in time before the world shut down. This opportunity jump-started my painting career. Fast forward 2 years of self discovery (and many unforeseen challenges), and here I am today.
© Sandra Guze