(Ed. Note: Today’s article is by contributing writer Matt Hollingsworth.)
Four times a year, the Knoxville Museum of Art hosts a new exhibit, and now through November 10th, guests can explore the abstract art of Jo Sandman in the current collection, “Traces.” Most of the art in the exhibit is on loan from Sandman’s alma mater, Black Mountain College (BMC). KMA curator Stephen Wicks agreed to give me a tour. Arranged chronologically, her earlier work starts to the right of the entrance and wraps around the room—like a timelapse of a creative visionary.
Born in 1931, Sandman discovered a love for painting and art that led her to apply to BMC. It took several attempts before she was accepted, arriving on campus in 1951. This would prove critical for her artistic journey as she would learn under legendary artists like Ben Shahn, Aaron Siskind, and Robert Motherwell. At BMC, she fell in love with experimental, abstract art that pushed the medium forward in unique ways. She learned to use “cast off” materials like discarded drop cloths and industrial materials like radiator hoses, tar, and caulk.
I explored her evolution as an artist by walking counterclockwise around the room. It starts with traditional abstract paintings but quickly moves to more experimental forms. One of the pieces doesn’t have any paint on it at all, nor ink or oils or any other traditional marking. Instead, the pattern emerges from the precise folds ironed into the linen.
Unlike many artists, Sandman never had a particular style. Instead, she constantly experimented with different techniques and materials. This is part of what appeals to Wicks about her work.
He explains, “She would come up with a new idea that featured a particular type of material, and she would work on that for a while, and then she’d move on to another material that she discovered, and she would squeeze all the creative content she could out of that and move on again.” Each series is grouped together in the gallery—like progressive sets of experiments by a determined scientist.
I’m particularly drawn to a piece that is made of assembled drop cloths, cut up and arranged into a simplified, abstract shape of a room. Wicks explains that they think it represents her art studio. Sandman herself rarely explained much about the deeper meanings of her work, preferring to let the art speak for itself.
And she constantly worked. Even as a young mother, when she didn’t have time for larger projects, she assembled small collages while her child napped.
Sandman always searched for new materials. In one example, she went to an automotive store and saw radiator hoses of different shapes and sizes which struck her as “industrial and organic.” She bought several, and the man behind the counter asked what she was going to do with them. She explained, “I’m an artist and I’m going to play with them.” She turned those ordinary hoses into a work of art which eventually made its way into a museum collection presented in this exhibition.
In her 70s, Sandman was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, likely caused by the constant physically-demanding nature of her work. Rather than stop, she began making art with the x-ray photographs the doctors had taken. As Wicks explains, her x-ray work is “about revealing this internal landscape.”
Now in her 90s, Sandman is no longer actively creating work. The most recent piece on display at the KMA is from 2014. It is an image of a serpent made by arranging a snake skin on photo-sensitive paper.
Wicks explains his own interpretation of this work: “I think in many ways this is a self-portrait if you think about the way that Jo Sandman was almost like a snake in terms of shedding a skin and moving on to something new, constantly reinventing herself. I think in a lot of ways, this is emblematic of her existence as an artist: constantly shifting, supple, moving, but at the same time, having the courage to leave what she was doing behind and moving into new, uncertain territory.”
Perhaps Sandman has good lessons for all artists: push beyond your limits, challenge yourself with new styles, and look for inspiration everywhere. The exhibition continues through November 10 and, like the museum, is free to the public. Museum hours are 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Tuesday through Saturday, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm Sunday. The museum is closed on Mondays.