Resolve to visit the Rotunda Gallery (ground floor, Kitchener city hall) in the New Year

On exhibition: Into Thin Air by Sandra Martin
 
January 1-31, 2012

A former artist-in-residence for the City of Kitchener (2002), Martin’s exhibit, Into Thin Air, uses clouds as a metaphor for the mind or the intellect, juxtaposing them with the concrete man-made structures of bridges. 

“I tried to capture the essence of the subject revealing just enough detail to cause the form to appear on the canvas as if out of a fog or mist. Their lack of foundation and the misty, transparent way in which they are painted is meant to instill a sense of transience,” said the artist.
 
Her work has the added dimension of collage. Japanese decorative paper provides a decorative and craft-like element to the work. A sense of depth is created in her work through this use of multiple layers. 
 
“The transparent way in which the work is created allows the paper to show through and symbolizes the fact that rusting, decaying bridges often have a limited mortality and an imperfect reliability,” she says.
 
Born in Toronto, Martin has participated in several solo and group exhibitions in Canada and the United States, winning several awards. She paints full time from her home in Guelph.