Sally Anderson Symphony Series #13 original acrylic

SALLY ANDERSON

Although Sally Anderson had achieved national prominence with her creations in woven sculpture, she was not content to continue working with that medium simply because of the success it brought her. After weaving for 10 years, she found that her work was beginning to frustrate, rather than to excite her, and she turned to painting and lithography. Since then, Anderson has received national recognition for her work in those media as well.

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Anderson was the eldest of five children. A shy and sensitive girl, she would spend hours creating puppet shows for which she painted and costumed clothespins, designed cardboard scenery, and made up the scripts but she would perform only for her family.  In junior high school, without her knowledge, Anderson's art teacher entered two of her pieces in a newspaper contest, and Anderson won. Her parents, impressed with her talent, enrolled her in art school, but Anderson soon quit because she was too shy to let anyone see her work.

The shyness gradually dissipated, and Anderson went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from Beloit College in Wisconsin, and to do graduate work at the University of Wisconsin and the Instituto de Allende in Mexico. During the years when she worked solely in abstract fiber sculpture, Anderson won two National Endowment for the Arts grants and several major federally-supported commissions. She now devotes all of her time to painting, producing abstract works that employ paint and a variety of other media. The results are brightly-colored creations with energetic splashes of shapes and designs.

"I build up large gessoed canvases in different layers," explains Anderson. "Then I tape off the edges and apply tiny lines of differing angles and colors. Next, I use a large brush to randomly splash colors." She continues taping over areas and applying paint, until she has built up several layers of acrylic. When she removes the tape, Anderson often adds torn pieces of handmade paper, foil, thread, or gold leaf and then uses a squeeze bottle filled with paint to add tiny action lines, other marks, and occasionally, a minute figure.

"I want my paintings to excite the senses," Anderson declares. "The viewer can play 'find the hidden picture' or just drink in the harmony between the explosion and the ordered energy on the canvas. I want to create works that have energy, movement, and intensity of color, but that also -- upon closer examination have an academic control."

Anderson is listed in Who's Who in American Art, and her works have been featured in countless one-person exhibitions throughout the country. They are also displayed in numerous collections, including Saks Fifth Avenue; the Bundy Museum; Spellman Investment Company; and Honeywell, Incorporated, to name just a few.