Fascinated with pattern and colour, Louise Sanders’ vibrant paintings depict images taken from recent travels to China, Dubai and Tunisia. Interested in the relationship between tourism and advertising and the western perception of what is seen to be an ‘exotic destination’, Sanders explores the contradictions between idealised holiday destinations and distorted illusions of the reality of a place.
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The work explores the portrayed ideals of a country, in particular China, the world’s fastest growing communist economy. In her degree show, which she completed at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design in 2004, she commented on the censorship of communist Cuba and compared it to our preconceived ideas of the country as a holiday destination. Digitally manipulating holiday photos, originally taken as a souvenir of her trip, to heighten colour and define tonal contrasts, artistic influences include Peter Doig, Julian Opie and Daniel Richter. Diverse resources such as 19th Century woodblock prints, propaganda posters and vintage travel posters are also an important reference. Her fascination with the reflections found within chrome-work of 1950’s Cuban cars, discovered while exploring Cuba whilst at college, has lead to Sanders using aluminium as a base for her paintings; the high gloss finish of the paint and the reflections within the metal, creating a visual interaction between the viewer and the painting. Conscious to avoid the uniformly ‘graphic’ images associated with poster influences, Sanders is constantly exploring the possibilities of the materials she uses and is attempting to find a balance between the fluidity of the paint and more restrained ‘blocks’ of colour.
Sanders has shown widely in her birth city Birmingham, and her work is held in private collections in China, Jamaica, France, Birmingham and London, as well as in corporate collections belonging to Ernst and Young and the University of Central England. In 2009 she was elected as an Associate of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA), and as one of the oldest Fine Art societies in the UK, Sanders regularly exhibits at the RBSA Gallery as well as at Art fairs and group and open exhibitions throughout the country. 2010 saw Louise relocate to Sheffield where she began to spend an increasing amount of time on her art practice. In 2012 she made the decision to move to London in search of greater artistic opportunities and to further her career as an artist.