Artist Brittany Sanders has been coming to Sun Valley her entire life. Inspired by the West and the natural surroundings and beauty of the Wood River Valley, she has made the valley her home for the last two years.
Sanders is a painter and book artist. At 25 years old, she was the youngest artist represented in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition "Highlights from the Permanent Collection: 1450 to the Present, Tiepolo to Thiebaud."
Her artwork can also be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Getty Museum, Yale University and the New York Public Library. In addition, she has received private commissions from the George Gund family, the Bonel Collection, and artist and architect Maya Lin. Sanders also founded the Bonnie and Morgan Press, which prints traditional limited-edition art books.
Sanders will hold her second annual art studio art show of her work on Saturday, Aug. 22, from 4-7 p.m. at 125 B Northwood Way in Ketchum's light industrial area. The show will feature 10 new works and two works from a previous series and artist's book.
"I always wanted to do something about Idaho," Sanders said. "It's a very difficult subject. I have a love for the Peaveys' ranch and have been visiting it since I was a child. I was inspired to paint the interior rooms there but wanted to paint the night sky too, and an abstract form emerged."
Sanders said she was most inspired for her latest work from this quote by writer Wallace Stegner, "What I want to speak for is not so much the wilderness uses, valuable as those are, but the wilderness idea, which is a resource in itself. Being an intangible and spiritual resource, it will seem mystical to the practical minded—but then anything that cannot be moved by a bulldozer is likely to seem mystical to them."
She said she is drawn to the abstract beauty of nature and the idea of trying to contain the wilderness. She set out to paint the night sky in a realistic and non-abstract approach but she said she can't control the creative unconscious and that is why her work is abstract.
The new works in the show have all been painted on Japanese paper and with watercolor paints, which are highly layered.
"Water color allows a viewer to see depth," Sanders said. "I choose the medium for the work because the idea behind the show is that in the West, the land is a fragile place to live. When you make a mark with water color paint on paper, it's more permanent and you can always see traces of the mark and brush stroke."
She said all of her work, whether it's a book or a painting, is driven by a narrative structure.
All of Sanders' work is for sale and available to collectors. She will be working on a new artist book called "Book of Wonder." To make an appointment or for more details, call 726-0684 or visit brittanysanders.com.
Sabina Dana Plasse: splasse@mtexpress.com
Artist Brittany Sanders in front of “Untitled 1.” Watercolor on Japanese paper, 2009.
