Sandy Brunvand

An artist’s method is the means to express creativity in ways uniquely theirs. As disparate as the works of artist Sandy Brunvand might appear, she has a consistent method. It is not a literal one; it is a conceptual method with a decisive lyrical quality. In Brunvand’s prints—distinctive and fascinating in detail and composition—one finds elements that may be likened to poetry in visual form. If you look with clarity and a liberated perspective, it is not difficult to grasp the poetic sensibility of Brunvand’s work, currently showing at Kayo Gallery.

Great poetry is not verbose but uses a terse language with turns of phrases or allusions to reality to capture universal or commonly understood truths. This is mirrored in Brunvand’s prints; there are rows of miniscule ink-made dots placed evenly and tightly in succession with the ink smeared in one consistent direction by row (an untitled example is pictured). The result has a poetic structure, with a visual language. But what are the universal or commonly understood truths found in Brunvand’s work?

Brunvand places every tiny dot precisely. Each of the rows are different—some are straight, some curve, some are parallel—yet each is a pure expression of concerted creative emotional energy. Every consecutive dot, as is true to human nature, represents the artist’s creative emotion in a perpetual state of flux. The ebb and flow of creative emotion expressed from dot to dot encompasses the immensity of Brunvand’s consciousness, intelligence, harmony, clarity and equanimity. The essence of the work is creative emotion; the subject is a magnificent equilibrium. (Ehren Clark)