ARTIST STATEMENT FOR DIVERTED DESTRUCTION
“What’s in a face, what is beauty?” I am forced to explore this concept. It is only a visage we present for review. Look past the immediate and discover what’s behind the mask. See the “thinker behind the eyes” through an intricate façade. I believe we are an aggregate of tiny bits; who we are and where we’ve been – or who we want or pretend to be. The tesserae, the “tiles” represent those bits in color and texture and meaning.

BIO
I learned to mix paint before I could write my name and play piano before I could read music. I spent my youth sitting quietly in my bedroom drawing. I cut school to spend days at art museums and galleries in New York City. I changed disciplines in grad school so many times; I decided to take my life-long love of learning out of academia. In most ways, I am self-taught. I studied mosaics overseas and applied this knowledge into my current work. I am very much influenced by what I have seen during my extensive travels. ART CAREER I began my professional career painting murals. I moved on to design numerous consumer goods: needlework, leather goods, fashion and accessories. I was the creative force behind On Display Inc., a groundbreaking retail display design & production company.

I gained national attention and recognition designing stores, fixtures, props and stage sets. Designs for Levi Strauss & Co. appeared on the cover of Visual Merchandising and Store Design Magazine. …and I was always painting custom portraits “on the side.” QUIRKS I am a Synesthete – this has affected my entire existence. Drawing, designing, painting – always in color, always in “tune.” I also have perfect pitch, which allowed me to begin piano lessons at four. And, I have eidetic imagery – something like a photographic memory. In my world, words, numbers, and sound are infused with color. I do see thing differently. My brain is the projector – placing images on blank canvas. This is typical of those with eidetic imagery, and how the early masters “saw” and reproduced their subjects without them being present. My work is an algebraic equation. It is a mathematical progression.

Sandhi Shimmel past shows at The Loft at Liz’s

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