SYNERGY

This current body of paper & encaustic sculptural work has come from solitary time and forced isolation, managing the chaos of the external by carefully dissecting time into small manageable moments – perfect little pieces fluttering, layering, then fused together, still weightless and ethereal.  My work continues to unfold in layers comprised of both layers of meaning and actual layers of materials.

Photography has always been a crucial component of my life, but when I discovered the encaustic medium I felt at home. I love the overall process and see it as a metaphor for life itself. A painting evolves through the accumulation of countless layers of the hot, melted, encaustic medium.

I think of how this cumulative process of layering and fusing layers resembles the collection of life experiences. Each layer presents options, possibilities and choices. The image, while important, is deconstructed to allow for a subliminal connection with the viewer.

Primarily I have been a photographer, but I have immersed myself into previously undiscovered realms of expression using media new to me. Shape, line, layers, and textures are all familiar within my previous works, yet are now approached in a fresh way in order to break from the expected. The past years that have been so difficult because of the changes in our environments seemed a fitting time to challenge norms and expectations in one’s art practice.

Sandy Middleton

Sandy Middleton is a mixed media photographic artist who resides in St. Catharines, Ontario. Her education and background is in still photography with a degree from Ryerson University. She went on to study both Graphic and Interior Design Post University. She lived and worked as a commercial photographer in Toronto for close to twenty years but was interested in switching directions to a more creative practice. After relocating to St. Catharines, she was able to begin making both fine art & conceptual based work.

Middleton has exhibited extensively throughout Ontario including shows such as the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, The Artist Project, as well as gallery exhibitions, most recently a featured exhibition at The Grimsby Public Art Gallery. In 2021 she was nominated as one of 52 finalists for the Salt Spring National Arts Award. She is the recipient of several Ontario Arts Council Grants and was nominated as Established Artist for the St. Catharines Arts Awards. Middleton is very involved within her arts community on  various boards and as the past Chair of the Arts and Culture Committee for the City of St. Catharines for 12 years. Sandy was pleased to join the board of The Willow Arts Community as Vice Chair in 2022.