"I really like these non-traditional pieces. They combine abstract art with something like 'reverence.' It's as if the medium of the fine papers and inks Sandi uses, and the hand of the artist lend an air of something 'sacred' ...and yet it's very contemporary."
Sandi Gardner’s new work in Chinese Ink has drawn comments like the one above. Having concentrated on traditional aspects of brush painting and Chinese calligraphy for nearly 20 years, Sandi has spent 2009 to the present experimenting with the media in more conceptual and non-objective ways. One result is this expanding series of enso – like circles. ( Enso is a Japanese term for ink circles, which have come to symbolize zen Buddhism.) These have also been called, “Chinese calligraphy characters without the calligraphy character” because the same sort of brush handling is used in both ink forms.
Sandi’s new, non-traditional work has been in a number of shows 2009-10. Most recently, TWO(entering) was accepted into the 47th Annual International Juried Show of the Sumi-e Society of America by renowned artist and juror Lampo Leong, PhD. One of Sandi’s experimental Chinese calligraphy pieces was accepted into the Texas Museum of Fiber Arts Annual Show at the Mexican American Cultural Center in Austin, and in recent years, Sandi has had two one-person shows, Eccentricities, at Gallery M Squared in Houston and Asian in a Past Life, at the Texas State Museum of Asian Cultures in Corpus Christi.
