Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Seeing above and below the surface

Brittany Sanders features new works on paper


By SABINA DANA PLASSE
Express Staff Writer

“What Can Be Seen Beyond the Burden of Knowing, Untitled 1,” by Brittany Sanders. Gouache paints on handmade shojo-shi paper.

Brittany Sanders hails from a talented family of notable and Oscar-winning filmmakers, and has found her own artistic niche creating artist's books. Sanders' works are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, The Getty Museum in Los Angeles and Yale University in New Haven, Conn., as well as in private collections.

Having spent a great deal of her life in Sun Valley with her family, who have been part-time residents for three decades, Sanders was inspired to build her own studio in Ketchum's light industrial area. She will hold an open house on Sunday, Aug. 24, from 4-7 p.m., which will feature her new works on paper.

"It is the first time my paintings will be available to the public," Sanders said. "The title of the show, 'What Can Be Seen Beyond the Burden of Knowing' is something I have been thinking about for a very long time. All the work deals with the dichotomy of two worlds—reality versus truth and what's above and below the surface."

All the works in Sanders show are gouache and watercolor using ultramarine blue, black and white on handmade shojo-shi paper. Sanders said she has always been painting and enjoys working in a series, especially with her artist's books and the relationship between text and image.

Sanders founded the Bonnie and Morgan Press with a mission to continue the tradition and expand the boundaries of limited-edition art books. The press has produced over 15 titles, ranging from "Last Night We Were Awoke," which depicts how the night sky appeared to the Lewis and Clark expedition, to the anthology book, "I Was There," which brings together emerging and established artists and writers commenting on seminal experiences.

Sanders' paintings illustrate simple ideas, which can be made complex through shifting and reforming. She said she wants to do critical artwork, which resonates with what is happening in society.

"I come from a family of storytellers," Sanders said. "You tell stories and have experiences and you keep things open and free. People see everything from water, birds or continents in the paintings. It's meant to be subtle."




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