Sandra Bray

A representational oil painter of landscape and still life. Also social commentary drawings and life drawings.

ARTIST STATEMENT My initial motivation in artistic pursuits was to challenge my technical ability, to see what I could achieve with the medium that fascinated me at the moment. Watercolour, before I had any painting training, was a mysterious puzzle. In the late 80’s, I began drawing and enjoyed the excitement of creating three dimensions on a two dimensional page. In the late 90’s, pushing shiney globs of oil paint around on canvas was a thrill. Creating physical beauty that could hang on the wall and give a moment’s rest to a viewer – that gave my work meaning as I became more aware of the audience.

Next came a shift in content – I was older, more awake, and wanted to serve cultural growth with my efforts, so I began social commentary drawings in ink. I continue work on a series called the Imaginaries of Peace, begun in 2005. At the moment I am also committed to collaborative projects involving communities; the work involves envisioning a project that addresses an issue, bringing interested folks onboard, working towards a finished product, and seeing the affect of our combined efforts, on ourselves and the wider community.

In ink drawings, a traditional, social-commentary medium, I explore my curiosity about our human, mimetic nature; the drawings require planning, several drafts, and thoughtful deliberation. In the drawings, I am motivated largely by my own interest and curiosity in our human condition, wondering how to name and describe what it is we do.

My goal is to gain distance from myself and my views, to ‘see’ my culture from a more disinterested perspective. Charles Taylor’s concept of social imaginaries has been a constant inspiration.

The immediacy and low toxicity of ink allows me to hope that illustrating a disinterested slice of Canadian society may shift a viewer’s inner landscape, as this new, distant perspective has shifted mine. Often sketch book squiggles are the basis for a fully developed piece; notes of interesting quotes or points, which, when strung together, compose a stimulating new outlook.

In collaborative projects, I seek the coming together of people to learn and be inspired by creating something larger than any one person’s vision. Although the first seed of a project is well-formed in my mind, working with community is like any medium –the medium also shapes the outcome. The participant/audience I seek may vary from a class of students, to library patrons, to the shoppers in a mall, depending upon the project. When a community completes a collaborative project, firstly, we are all surprised at the whole, created by our individual pieces that have come together, and secondly, everyone feels something about their contribution to the big picture. But more importantly, the community has been changed in ways that will not be recorded. Individual senses of competency, dinner-table conversations, personal responsibility, collaborative pleasure – these are only some the many impacts.

Community collaborations leave a trail of the concerns of an era. They speak to the minds of a people. They highlight problems that may not have been articulated widely. They can stimulate deeper explorations of an issue. Sometimes they surprise viewers and the creators too. Usually they reach a wider audience than wall art. I am influenced by the drawings (i.e. Punch magazine) that brought problems to the light of the 18thC mind, problems that have since reached the tipping point and been addressed.

The common theme through my artistic eras of watercolour, figure drawing, oil painting, ink drawings, and community projects has been the exploration of our human existence in relation to the world we inhabit. I grew up on a farm in Canada and as a child felt a close connection to the view from every farmhouse window - landscape. Sky, sun, air, trees, fields, paths – these were my world. Now my world is much, much larger – what I see on the internet, TV, and read on Twitter. I have travelled widely – my world has become the planet.

My art work bridges the modern and post-modern eras. While I appreciate and seek technical ability, I also seek to explore the multi-faceted world I live in, the one with no ready answers.

Growing up in the country, a hard-wired love of the land and concern with fairness, listening to CBC radio .. these are my largest influences. Listening to the radio always requires a notebook and pen in hand as CBC is dense in ideas and new thinking. My current series, titled: Imaginaries of Peace, was inspired by Charles Taylor’s concept of social imaginaries discussed on CBC’s Ideas. I learn aurally although I express myself visually.

Additionally, I am influenced by the drawings (i.e. by Daumier) that enlightened the 18thC and 19thC minds, illustrating problems that have since reached a tipping point and have largely been addressed. Canadian Gerald Mc Master, whose art always has something stimulating to say, has been an inspiration.

Also, exhibiting in other countries/cultures has awakened me to the possibilities of art as a tool for more than personal self-expression, more than a means of creating beauty; rather, art has become a tool to stimulate public discussion of the issues that determine our common future.

EXHIBITION RECORD

Community Art Projects

2012 - The Woolwich Township Logo Committee, Elmira, ON 2011 - The Speckled Trout Project, Elmira Public Library, Elmira, ON 2010 – The Question of Peace, The MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, ON 2010 – The Question of Peace, The Bayfield Mall, Barrie, ON 2007 – Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, ON 2006 – The Digital Eye, MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, ON 2005 – The Eye of the Camera, MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, ON 2004 – Digital Fusion, Millpond Café, Alliston, ON

Selected Exhibitions

2017 - Out of the Box, Kitchener, ON - curated, group 2012 - 25 Years of Drawing, Sille, Konya, Turkey - invitational solo 2011 - Canada Culture Days, Elmira, ON - invitational solo 2010 –The MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, ON – invitational international 2010 – The Bayfield Mall, Barrie, ON – invitational international 2010 – The Woolwich Administrative Building, Elmira, ON - juried 2009 – The Gibson Cultural Centre, Alliston, ON – invitational 2009 – Boxheart Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA – invitational 2008 - Woolwich Public Library, Elmira, ON - invitational 2008 - Georgian College, Barrie, ON - group 2007 – Ars Latina Camina, State Gallery, Castellon la Plana, Spain – invitational 2007 - Arts and Letters Club, Toronto, ON - invitational 2006 - Uluslarasi Sanat Festivali, Adana, Turkey – invitational 2006 - University of Watkinsville, GA – invitational 2006 - Art on Main, Alliston, ON – invitation 2006 – Strade del Mondo, Ex Chiesa di San Sebastiano, Belforte del Chient, Italia - invitational 2006 – Galleria degli Antichi Forni, Macerata, Italia - invitational 2005 – The OCAF Cultural Arts Foundation Center, Watkinsville, GA - invitational 2005 – The Museum of Arad, Arad, Romania - invitational 2004 – The Museum of Arad, Arad, Romania - invitational 2004 – The Travelling Weave Inaugural, Porto Recanati, Italy - invitational 2003 – Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea, Florence, Italy - invitational 2003 – The Apple Tree, Taos, NM - solo 2002 – Taos Invites Taos, Taos, NM – invitational 2001 – The Apple Tree, Taos NM – solo 1999 – Taos Open, Taos, NM – group 1998 – Drawings and Carvings, Taos, NM – duet 1997 – The Best of Taos, Taos, NM – juried 1996 – Maximum Drawings, Santa Fe, NM – juried 1995 – McMichael Annual Exhibition, Kleinburg, ON – juried 1995 – TAA Drawing Exhibition, Taos, NM – juried 1994 – Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery Exhibition, Kitchener, ON – group 1993 – Taos Open, Taos, NM – group 1992 – Peel Regional Art Gallery Autumn Exhibition, London, ON – juried 1991 – Crosshill Schoolhouse Painting Exhibition, Millbank, ON – duet 1990 – Wellington County Museum Exhibition, Fergus, ON – juried 1988 – Elmira Library Spring Exhibition, Elmira, ON – juried 1976 – University of Waterloo Art Exhibition, Waterloo, ON – juried

Juror

2007 – Something New, The Arts and Letters Club, Toronto ON - juried 2006 – Ars Latina, Antichi Forni Gallery, Macerata, Italy – juried latino exhibition 2005 – Biennale Arad 2005, Arad, Romania – juried international

Education

2006 - Sr. Qualifications in Visual Art, University of Western, London, ON 2000 – Pleine Aire Painting with Ron Rencher, Rencher Studios, Taos, NM 1998 – Oil Painting with Laura Robb, Valdez School of Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM 1992 – Drawing with Gustav Rehberger, The Art Students League, New York, NY 1976 – Bachelor of Arts, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON

Residency Bee-Bar Ranch, Tres Piedras, NM 1998 - 2003

Bibliography Woolwich Observer 12/09/29 Woolwich Observer 12/01/13 Elmira Independent 11/10/05 Side Roads of Waterloo Wellington 10/06 Hurriyet (Gukurova) 06/10/12 Hurriyet (Gukurova) 06/08/12 Southern Distinction 06/06 Lake Oconee Living 06/04 The Alliston Herald 06/01/18 The Caledon Citizen 06/01/18 Athens Herald-Banner 05/09 The Elmira Independent 05/06/24 Corriere Adriatico 04/09 Wide Open Spaces 00/10 Rocks Talk 98/03 THE Magazine 96/09 The Unplugged Quarterly 95/07 The Taos News 93/10/07

Commissions Corporate: GA Paper, Markham, ON Dr. L. Whyte-Ferguson, Taos, NM

Personal: B. Nelson, OR N. Elgammal, Toronto, ON Susan&Darrol Bryant, Elmira, ON

Selected Collections

International Dynamic Museum of Contemporary Art, Belforte de Chiente, Italy E. Allgood, Denmark B. Barbour-Soules, San Francisco, CA S. Bryant, Brookfield, NH A. Burnett, Mars Hill, NC J. Haas, Saltspring Island, BC L. Lightner, Garden City, KS M. & J. Lombard, Torrance, CA K. Nelson, Tres Piedras, NM R. & S. Roth, Crosshill, ON P. Sherman, Hoover, TX L. Smith, Brownwood, TX L. Thom, Kingston, ON M. Urdahl, New York, NY Holy Cross Hospital, Taos, NM Ojo Caliente Health Centre, Ojo Caliente, NM The Woolwich Counselling Centre, Elmira, ON

Contributions to the Field

2015 Art-in-the-Park, Elmira, ON 2014 Art-in-the-Park, Elmira, ON 2013 Art-in-the-Park, Elmira, ON 2012 Art-in-the-Park, Elmira, ON 2011 Art-in-the-Park, Elmira, ON 2010 Art-in-the-Park, Elmira, ON 2006/007 Painting in the Park, Earle Rowe Provincial Park, Alliston, ON 2004 Mentor, University of Western Ontario, London, ON

Associations

Member, CARFAC, Toronto, ON Member, The Travelling Wave, www.travellingwave.org Member, International Artistic Committee, Biennale Arad 2005, Arad, Romania Member, Art$Pay, Kitchener, ON

Honorary Member, Terra Dell’Arte Cultural Association, Tolentino, Italy

Member, International Artistic Committee 2006, Ars Latina, Tecate, Mexico