SANDRA MANZI
BIO
Sandra Manzi is an artist from Toronto currently residing in Hamilton. She is a graduate from the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCADU) in Toronto where she received her diploma in Fine Arts/Experimental Arts, and received a B.A. in Fine Arts from the University of Guelph. She is a recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council, and has been a finalist for the Boynes Artist Award three times. Her work is represented by galleries in Toronto, Oakville, Hamilton, and San Francisco. Her paintings can be found in private collections throughout Canada, Europe, and the United States.
Finding inspiration in genre painting as seen throughout the history of western art as well as in urban street photography, Sandra Manzi's paintings begin with and rely on her camera as a major tool and is the source that guides her technique as well as the motifs she works with. Most of her paintings are based on impromptu snapshots of portraits of people in public spaces, seen in unguarded instances which she feels harbor larger questions regarding identity and how we effect each others actions. In recent work she has started to take a documentary approach to her painting practice, with an interest in the idea of time and everyday experiences, focusing on candid moments of the emotions found in people's postures, expressions, clothing, everyday routines and interrelationships. It is the "Passerby" that is the main subject in many of her paintings. They are people in shared spaces like outdoor festivals, public sidewalks, grocery stores, and cafes. Places where chance encounters, with the multitude of visual detail within them, come together for but one moment that is captured by her camera, never to be seen in that same way again. She plays off this concept of ephemeral moments by freezing them within her paintings which take much longer to make and encourage the viewer to look carefully at a moment that may have lasted but for a second. They are very familiar and unspectacular moments that catch her eye, which she then turns into an everlasting work of art. They are people going about their daily lives not doing anything extra special and finding the beauty within these moments. She creates impromptu portraits of people in public spaces, seen in unguarded instances of reflection and personal connection or synchronicity. Her realistic paintings depict small moments of intimate connection between strangers and, at the other end, large-scale expressions of collective identity and solidarity. The paintings are about the connections between people, and the ways we affect each other – knowingly and unknowingly, positively and negatively – when we gather together. As an artist, her work is a manifestation of her deep exploration into the human experience and the raw emotions that reside within us. Through her paintings, she aims to evoke a sense of connection and introspection for the other people we share this world with, inviting viewers to embark on a personal journey of self-discovery.
Always considering the ubiquity of photography, as it's so much a part of our life, Sandra considers how it influences the way that we see the world around us - hence making this part of her subject matter. Seeing things through the lens of the casual snapshot - whether from her own photos or from photo sharing sites, and social media sites, are the images that inspire her paintings. She also reflects on Carl Jung's theory of Synchronicity. As it relates to her work, the line between chance and synchronicity merges, making us consider the idea of meaningful coincidences. Her subject matter revolves around themes of daily life and familiar experiences such as a visit to a city, festivals, markets, trips to the museum, sporting events, a particular plant that she likes, city scenes, beaches, fairs, and most places where she gets to observe people. She emphasizes scenes that otherwise would pass without being noticed. Many of the people in her paintings are strangers to her. But they are strangers in very familiar everyday situations which she has a connection with.
A theme that keeps resurging is group gatherings outside and often looks for places to photograph people spending time together, usually but not always outside, with others, suspended in the moment. These people are found attending a whimsical spectacle with strangers, or at a fair, or a market. Starting with a snapshot image of strangers or family - not a special image but just one that would normally get lost among the deluge of images we take with our cell phones - she looks to reanimate it through the act of painting. In the process, lines, light, and details are dramatized and exaggerated, uncovering meaning that would have been missed. Sandra sees herself as an observer of contemporary life and her interpretations of everyday scenes bring beauty to what might normally be missed. She looks for moments which may seem simple yet are emotionally layered - serving as both documentation and reflection. Using mostly her own photographs as source material, these then get brought back into the studio where she will go through them looking for ideas which then get translated into the medium of oil paint. The composition, color palette, and overall aesthetic which she employs within her paintings are closely connected to her interest in vernacular photography - where unposed subject matter and chance is more in line with her goal which is to be able to make work that is honest and that reflects real life. She's captivated by the beauty and emotion she feels in that ephemeral moment she observed which may never exist in that exact way in life again - the light playing off someone's face or back, the colors in a flower as it's starting to bloom or decay, the way people are walking down a summer street, strangers passing each other but for a second. Sometimes she will layer these moments in order suggest how quickly these experiences may pass each other - how in a split second one instance can become or blend into another, which also closely reflects how images pass by her camera's view finder.
As a Realist painter she has a compulsion to observe the stories of the anonymous people she encounters on her walks and travels. She captures fleeting, and very relatable moments, encouraging the viewer to engage and reflect on contemporary life - both of our daily routines and leisure activities. Her paintings delve into themes dealing with human nature by exploring identity, our connection with one another and our environment, as well as our leisure activities in it's many forms of escapism. Her work not only reflect on us as a society, but also capture the vigorous energy of our urban world, while exploring the raw realities of the human condition which shape our shared experience.
Inspiration comes to her in places where she can observe unguarded moments of human interaction. It is here with her camera as her sketchbook that she starts to explore universal themes related to human behavior and identity. These quick snapshots of urban life then get slowed done for us to absorb through the medium of oil paint.
ARTIST STATEMENT
"Time has always been an important aspect in my painting practice, with a goal to record specific moments from everyday life. They are rooted in personal reflections, but are universal in feeling, showing the passage of time as experienced in the things we do and see which would normally be overlooked. I do not pose people or look for the perfect image or balanced composition, but rather thrive on painting the accidental. My work is inspired by the traditions of urban genre painting and street photography which attempt to capture the spontaneous poetry of the everyday. In my paintings as a way of looking close and taking stock of the commonplace, a search for the exceptional in the mundane and the universal in the specific. I work mostly from photos I have taken of people in groups at large public events – protests, amusement parks, concerts – although I sometimes use found imagery that resonates with my personal experience. I take candid photos of things I see in my day to day life that strike me in some way and then I try to re-create that visual experience in a painting. My work thrives on spontaneity. For subject matter I walk through bustling streets or public events, and vibrant marketplaces, looking for people and things that catch my attention. Primarily working in oil on canvas, my focus is on depicting these everyday situations, natural environments, the tension and emotion that arises when people interact with each other. What I decide to paint comes from studying the history of art and it's various genres - from the figure, to still life and florals; but the play of light, and capturing fleeting encounters play a significant role in my painting practice. I work from my own photographs as reference and do not hide this fact - as can be seen by the way I abruptly crop images, blur certain areas as done with a camera, or freeze movement. in fact it is not just paintings of people, places, or things that I create but the photographs themselves also become the subject matter."
C.V.
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Elaine Fleck Gallery, Toronto
Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Rental and Sales Gallery, Toronto
Christopher Clark Fine Art, San Francisco, California
Crown and Press Gallery, Hamilton
Summer and Grace Gallery, Oakville
Art Interiors, Toronto
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
2025 - Summer and Grace Gallery, Two Person Show, Oct. 9-26, 2025
EXHIBITIONS
2025 - 'The Power of She', Group Show, Summer and Grace Gallery, May 1-June 15, 2025
2025 - Elaine Fleck Gallery, Two Person Show, April 1-30, 2025
2024 - Elaine Fleck Gallery, Christmas Show, Dec. 2024
2024 - Elaine Fleck Gallery, Summer Group Show, August 2024
2024 - Summer and Grace Gallery, A Beautiful Life: Still Life Exhibition, May 30 - July 14, 2024
2024 - Elaine Fleck Gallery, Two Person Show, April 6-30, 2024
2024 - Crown and Press Gallery, February 3 - 21, 2024
2023 - Elaine Fleck Gallery, Toronto, Group Show, December 2023
2023 - Centre3 Gallery, Hamilton, Ont., Solo Show, Nov. 3 - 28, 2023
2023 - Elaine Fleck Gallery, Three Person Show, Oct. 4-28, 2023
2023 - Elaine Fleck Gallery, Group Show, Sept. 7-30, 2023
2023 - Crown and Press Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario
2023 - Paula While Diamond Gallery, "Big Idea Show", July - August 2023
2023 - Square Foot Show - Florals, Online show, May 4 - 6, 2023
2023 - Art Gallery of Hamilton Annual Art Sale, Hamilton, Ont., April 27 - 30, 2023
2023 - Dundas Valley School of Art 52nd Annual Auction, Hamilton, Ont., April 10 - 15, 2023
2023 - Ironwood Cider House, Gallery, Solo Show, Niagara on The Lake, Ont., April 15 - May 4, 20
2023 - Summer and Grace Gallery, "Joy" Exhibit, Dec. 1, 2022 - Feb. 27, 2023
2022 - Paula White Diamond Gallery, "Square Foot Show", Nov. 26 - Dec. 4, 2022, Waterloo, Ont.
2022 - Paula White Diamond Gallery, "Big Ideas Show", Oct. 27 - Nov. 12, 2022, Waterloo, Ont.
2022 - Art Gallery of Mississauga, Second Annual Juried Show, Sept.13 - Oct. 23, 20
2022 - Summer And Grace Gallery, Oakville, Ontario
2022 - 2023 - Art Gallery of Hamilton, Art Rental And Sales Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario
2022 - Earls Court Gallery, "Bouquet", April 7 - May 7, 2022, Hamilton, Ontario
2021 - 2023 - Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Rental And Sales Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
2021 - Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, July 2-11., Toronto, Ontario
2010 - George Brown College Gallery, Three Person Show, Toronto, Ontario
1998 - 2007 - Gallery Moos, Toronto, Group Shows, Toronto, Ontario
2008 - Fran Hill Gallery – “The Portrait Challenge”, Group Show, Toronto, Ontario
2004 - The Burston Gallery, “Crooked Grind”, Solo Show, Toronto, Ontario
2002 - Luft Gallery, “Hockey Card Portraits”, Solo Show, Toronto, Ontario
1998 - West Wing Art Space, “Fleeting Moments”, Solo Show, Toronto, Ontario
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2024 - Boynes Artist Award, 11th Edition Finalist
2022 - Boynes Artist Award, 7th Edition Finalist.
2022 - Boynes Artist Award, 6th Edition Finalist.
2021 - Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance Grant
2003 -Toronto Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance Grant
2002 - Canada Council for the Arts Grant
2002 - Ontario Arts Council Grant
EDUCATION
1988 - B.A., Fine Arts, University of Guelph
1987 - A.O.C.A., Fine Arts/Experimental Arts, Ontario College of Art and Design
1984 - C.T.S.A.D., Fine Arts, Central Technical School, Department of Fine Arts, Toronto
PRESS
Boynes Artist Award, 11th Edition Finalist -
"We are delighted to showcase Vintage by Sandra Manzi, a Finalist in the Boynes Artist Award 11th Edition!
Description: Inspired by the works of Old Masters, Sandra’s 'Vintage' recontextualizes James Tissot’s painting 'Croquet', blending elements of art history with contemporary figures. As a figurative artist, Sandra captures fleeting human moments that spark bigger questions about identity and what it means to be human. This dialogue between past and present, tradition and technology, creates a timeless and thought-provoking narrative."
https://boynesartistaward.com/interviews/artist-sandra-manzi
https://boynesartistaward.com/interviews/artist-sandra-manzi-updated