BIO
Erin Sandsmark is a Minneapolis based artist, originally from Fargo, North Dakota. Sandsmark received her Bachelors of Fine Art degree from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. In the spring of 2017 she received her Masters of Fine Art at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Sandsmark has been the recipient of the Brown-Makenzie Arts Scholarship and the Sally-Spencer Scholarship. She has been exhibited at the Regis Center for Arts Quarter Gallery, West Gallery, the Katherine E. Nash Gallery, the MFA Whittier Gallery, MCAD MFA Gallery, Co Exhibitions Gallery, New Bohemian Gallery, Red Garage Studio, and at Altered Esthetics. Sandsmark has participated in Art-A-Whirl and the annual MCAD Art Sale. Sandsmark is currently an art instructor with ArtiCulture, a non-profit providing art to the community through classes and public art projects.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My body has been a source of fascination throughout my life. I have gone through many eras of hate, disregard, and love for the limbs and fat rolls that accompany my body. By exposing my body through painting, each exposure of my flesh became a part of my own personal therapy in dealing with the body I was born with. I have chosen slowly to remove my specific identity from the paintings, cropping in on moments that share a certain truth in my form, and allowing others to project their own experiences on to mine.
My body is used as a vessel for exploration and manipulation of flesh. I use my hands to grab and mold my figure, understanding how bodies can be acted upon by ourselves and outside forces. My breasts, stomach, and fat squish and move fluidly, and their malleability has been useful in understanding bodily manipulation. Flesh has turned into material, painting into subject. The work is all about how painting and the sensuality of the medium bleeds into the representation of form and body. I have chosen to strip away the formality of painting, to expose the canvas and true materials I am working with. The canvas hangs un-stretched on a wall, swaying and bending like a skin all on it's own. The figure dissipates at the edges, allowing for the raw canvas to be in conversation with the form itself.
Each painting is large and unapologetic in their scale and vibrancy. The un-stretched mass of canvas put forth and presented to the viewer is asking to be seen. I am exposing my body in a way that is directive and decidedly in the face of the person viewing it. Each painting envelops the viewer in my flesh, causing each person to move and experience it with me. My hand is visible in the paint, and each mark I have made brings each viewer closer to the experience of my body. I cause confrontation with my body, and it is that moment that they begin to move beyond my identity and into the world.
Erin Sandsmark is a Minneapolis based artist, originally from Fargo, North Dakota. Sandsmark received her Bachelors of Fine Art degree from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. In the spring of 2017 she received her Masters of Fine Art at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Sandsmark has been the recipient of the Brown-Makenzie Arts Scholarship and the Sally-Spencer Scholarship. She has been exhibited at the Regis Center for Arts Quarter Gallery, West Gallery, the Katherine E. Nash Gallery, the MFA Whittier Gallery, MCAD MFA Gallery, Co Exhibitions Gallery, New Bohemian Gallery, Red Garage Studio, and at Altered Esthetics. Sandsmark has participated in Art-A-Whirl and the annual MCAD Art Sale. Sandsmark is currently an art instructor with ArtiCulture, a non-profit providing art to the community through classes and public art projects.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My body has been a source of fascination throughout my life. I have gone through many eras of hate, disregard, and love for the limbs and fat rolls that accompany my body. By exposing my body through painting, each exposure of my flesh became a part of my own personal therapy in dealing with the body I was born with. I have chosen slowly to remove my specific identity from the paintings, cropping in on moments that share a certain truth in my form, and allowing others to project their own experiences on to mine.
My body is used as a vessel for exploration and manipulation of flesh. I use my hands to grab and mold my figure, understanding how bodies can be acted upon by ourselves and outside forces. My breasts, stomach, and fat squish and move fluidly, and their malleability has been useful in understanding bodily manipulation. Flesh has turned into material, painting into subject. The work is all about how painting and the sensuality of the medium bleeds into the representation of form and body. I have chosen to strip away the formality of painting, to expose the canvas and true materials I am working with. The canvas hangs un-stretched on a wall, swaying and bending like a skin all on it's own. The figure dissipates at the edges, allowing for the raw canvas to be in conversation with the form itself.
Each painting is large and unapologetic in their scale and vibrancy. The un-stretched mass of canvas put forth and presented to the viewer is asking to be seen. I am exposing my body in a way that is directive and decidedly in the face of the person viewing it. Each painting envelops the viewer in my flesh, causing each person to move and experience it with me. My hand is visible in the paint, and each mark I have made brings each viewer closer to the experience of my body. I cause confrontation with my body, and it is that moment that they begin to move beyond my identity and into the world.