Sandra Perlow – Containment

Description

“I have always been interested in colors and shapes, but my attitude on how to assemble them in new combinations is like some sort of a quest for me—In my work I’m always trying to see landscapes I’ve never seen before, real or imagined.”

I have been working on this current body of work for about six months, during the COVID-19 pandemic. I adapted my studio to work from home just before the lockdown, so much of the inspiration has come from my own daydreaming of potential landscapes. The new works with gouache, marker, and pencil on yuppo paper are about learning to make new choices with new materials while witnessing the world transform into a new place. This series communicates a feeling of exploring, bouncing around, or floating from place to place with playfulness and curiosity—somehow still being open to the unknown after all this time.

I use bursts of color to swell through contrasting shapes, sometimes with slight tonal changes to express the new thoughts and feelings that I am discovering in this moment of my life. I’ve always been interested in patterns, but now the rhythm and movement in my work are more clearly influenced by my memories of people in motion: bumping into strangers or the hustle and bustle of people changing directions. I have fond memories of walking in city crowds and patterns from those memories came up often in this new series. I focused on the brightness of colors, meandering lines, and the complexity of a map made from both fading memories and fresh imagination.  There are moments of ease too—like stopping for a break on a bench—time to catch your breath within the swirl of so much change all at once.