ARTIST STATEMENT:

Fabrics hold our histories; landscape holds our futures. I am intrigued by the intersection of people and places. We belong to the land, and the land reflects us. In bringing ourselves fully to a place, we are shown who we are. We see our fragmentation, our limitations and our vulnerabilities. In my work, I seek to explore and help us learn to look again at our landscapes and our interaction with our places. Landscape invites us into humility and wonder: to experience being part of something larger than ourselves, to see Heaven and Hell. In being present to our places we are given revelations that shape our stories to come. Nothing is waste; all that is has value. 

Bio:

Sandra Hopkins is a fiber artist who lives in Northern Colorado. In her art, she explores the intersections of ordinary and holy, waste and restoration across a variety of mediums, witnessing to wholeness, or holiness, revealed in disconnected, ordinary histories.

Born in upstate New York, Sandra is a largely self-taught artist. During a season of healing from trauma, she put up her paintbrushes and pulled down her grandmother’s sewing machine. As she sewed, she was unable to throw out scraps and remnants of fabric, hoping to find a way not to waste anything. Those remnants held histories and symbolized people in their perceived raggedness. This led to a deep belief in the power of art to make the invisible visible — opening us to restoration and healing. Sandra now works in reclaimed materials, with a focus on fiber and textiles as medium.

Appreciating an interdisciplinary approach, Sandra has studied theology, philosophy, history and art. Sandra has shown in solo, group and juried exhibitions in the US and Canada, including Denver Art Museum’s SPUN Community Quilt exhibit, Loveland ArtSpace Feed & Grain, and the Dal Schindell Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia. Sandra’s work has been included in multiple publications, and she has led workshops and spiritual retreats.