I Surprise Myself

"Sometimes I surprise myself. I am always looking for some mysterious in-between place where ideas and images come together to show me a new, exciting path to follow." -- Elizabeth Sandvig

Much of Elizabeth Sandvig's work has dealt with the transitory and fragile qualities of nature. Using materials that include cast polyester resin, aluminum and polyester screen, nylon thread, and silicon gels, she has emphasized a sense of layered transparency, creating a shifting visual energy affected by light and position.

Throughout her career Sandvig has painted her version of Edward Hick's nineteenth-century fantasy, The Peaceable Kingdom. The Hicks theme is, as she observed, "an excellent excuse to paint animals," but it is also an ordering principle, an opportunity to make marks that matter, amplified by orchestrated tones. Her animals owe allegiance only to the function their figures serve in fields of colored light.

Born in Seattle, Elizabeth Sandvig is one of the Pacific Northwest's most respected artists. She has been artist-in-residence at the Pilschuck Glass School adn the Centrum Foundation, and she has taught generations how to make monoprints and woodcuts. She has been represented by the Francine Seders Gallery since 1966.