alumni @work
Abstractionist and Old Ridleian, Alexander βSandyβ Rasmussen β07 always knew he would work in the arts. His grandfather, an artist and set designer at the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC), encouraged Sandy from a young age, and his time at Ridley was largely spent hanging around the art department, fascinated by stories of the abstract expressionists who broke visual traditions and found new ways to communicate. From his motherβs tablecloth, to the famous grids of Agnes Martin, to the linoleum tile floors of the former gas station in which he used to paint, the Niagara-based artist is looking to explore that tension, earning kudos from critics at his recent show at the Christopher Cutts gallery in Toronto for his βriveting worksβ and βdelectable passages of paint that almost shimmer.β βThe act of putting on paint impasto like I do is kind of a bold statement. What mark do I make now? Do I touch the canvas with that colour? What if I do this? Itβs totally subversive,β he concludes. βIβm going to do what I want.β After graduating from Ridley, the St. Catharines native left to study at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, but soon realized he was looking for a different kind of experience. βAs much as art can seem welcoming and nurturing, it can also be a towering history of knowledge that you may not possess,β he admits. βItβs a steep hill.β The following year, Sandy headed east to take Sociology at St. Francis Xavier Universityβbut he didnβt leave art far behind. βI started seeing parallels between the things we were discussing in class and in art,β he says, looking back. And, a year into his degree, painting pulled him home. Sandy came back, borrowed $500 from his dad (former faculty member Rick Rasmussen) for supplies, and got to work. He sold pieces and secured commissions. He travelled home to paint on weekends and school breaks. He immersed himself in art history. After graduation, Sandy started painting full-time in his parentsβ garage, then rented out space at an old rural gas station before spending two tough years working in a cold, dim-lit barn out in Jordan Stationβan experience which he says hardened him as an artist.
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flourishing