Whitney Sanford

The Architecture of Cultural Diversity

Whitney Sanford

San Francisco, USA

“I’m a pedestrian explorer and seeker of security. From macro to micro, from entire civilizations to hand painted tiling, I want to know the differences and similarities among all of us.

On the macro level, I use drone photographs found on the internet as my source material. Through modern technology and surveillance, I am able to explore remote places and cultures. This exploration requires intimacy while jeopardizing anonymity and playing with questions of security. In transcribing these images into watercolors, I’ve made this searching about the frailty of life.

On the micro level, I use found photographs of interiors and turn them into paper cut-outs. What first began as a narrative about my puppy and I living in our isolated tower, dreaming of a perfect home, I wound up exploring what www.whitneylsanford.com

spaces already exist. Through paper cut-outs, I’ve been forced to simplify these interiors into studies on space and light, shapes and design.

The concept of shelter is embedded in us. The protection of our houses is what motivates most of our decisions. What started off as rudimentary structures has evolved into statements of prestige and dominance. As well, homes have found more nuanced ways of existing. Because many cultures have had to flee an unwanted power and the innovation in their rebuilding is astounding. From carting stones, deciding how to build, engineering how houses were to respond to their new geography and seeking the most defensive terrain, we can learn how home has evolved, both singularly and together.

My goal is to learn how to articulate one of our most fundamental needs in an imaginative, personal, and deeply exploratory method. "

Whitney Sanford Habana, 2020 Watercolor, pen and ink on paper 50.8 x 40.6 cm

Whitney Sanford Shinsakai, 2020 Watercolor, pen and ink on paper Whitney Sanford artist. Having moved is a San Francisco mixed media several times throughout her life, 50.8 x 40.6 cm coupled with a deep desire to explore the world at large, her work tends to focus on the concepts of home and community. In using watercolor, oil, paper cutout, animation, polaroid and collage, she intends to lend a Whitney Sanford Mumbai, 2020 unique depiction of each individual “experience”. Watercolor, pen and ink on paper 38.1 x 29.8 cm Text by the artist 113