Joelle Sander’s second solo exhibit, “Color as Refuge,” features oil paintings; representational abstractions of the Natural world. The vibrancy of her luscious colors provides Sander a safe haven, a refuge, as she paints. Drawn to large forms and patterns, Sander paints the semblance of sky, water and woods and abstracts images of petals, leaves, branches, flowers, and birds. Sander uses a wide variety of tools in her paintings: brushes, palette knives, rags, sponges and the sides of cardboard pieces she loads with paint and jabs against her canvas. Her textures run the gamut from translucence to heavy impasto. Sander began painting twenty years ago after being a writer for thirty-five years and published in newspapers, magazines and scholarly books. A Sarah Lawrence alumna, she always knew she wanted to be a professional writer. For twenty years (1989-2009) she served as associate director of The Center for Continuing Education, where she taught “Modern American Poetry” and “Reading and Writing the Essay.” She continues to teach in the Writing Institute.
Exhibit held in the Esther Raushenbush Library
