Artist Statement

Sally Bennett is an abstract expressionist, currently working on a series of paintings. Each completed piece is actually comprised of two or more separate paintings. It is a complex and often challenging process, but the artist, with more than three decades of experience, admits she enjoys the problem-solving aspect.
Bennett starts with a black gessoed canvas. To that, she adds color, pattern, and collage. By letting go, and shifting from intention to intuition, the silent dialogue begins. The artist and the work communicate; she listens and then responds.
The next chapter is the cutting of each painting into strips that are laid out on a work table and intermingled, creating a kaleidoscopic extravaganza. Finally, once a rhythm emerges from the slivers of multiple content-laden paintings, they are painstakingly woven together. Out of chaos, beauty emerges and it all becomes new again, a fresh visual story to share with the world.
It is the mystery of the hidden images that intrigue her, as well as the disparate elements that have come together in harmony. This series represents not just an engaging transformation of her paintings, but a major shift in methodology for the artist. Bennett states “Developing this series has been a journey of self-discovery and continues, on a daily basis, to fuel my artistic growth.

“My creative approach is a blend of spontaneity and obsessive attention to detail – the combination of paint, scattered words, patterns, collages, and memorabilia are all the perfect vehicles for the work to express a crazy perspective on life – my art comes out of life and like our lives, it is not a quick read. I want my work to engage the viewer – to see and feel the beauty and humor that is around us everywhere. When I start I let the painting guide me – I am the spectator wanting to see something I have never seen before. I use anything I can find – old, new, and everything in between – the collage reflects reality – it is straightforward – the patterns surround us and the words speak to us – the memorabilia brings us back to the essentials. All of these tools help me begin and complete the story from the old and forgotten to something new and now.”

Sally Bennett was educated at Rollins College (FL), and at Ohio
Dominican, Capitol University, and Columbus College of Art and Design
(OH). Her work is in collections of Albuquerque Museum of Art (NM);
Columbus Museum of Art (OH); Abbot Industries (OH); and Hilton Hotels
(OH).
Bennett has had over two dozen solo exhibitions in New Mexico, New York,
Ohio, North Carolina, and Texas, including The Inside Out – The Outside In,
at the Museum of the Southwest, Midland (TX) in 2007. Her next will be
hosted by the Koelsch Gallery in Houston in the summer of 2023.
Her experience also includes exhibits at all major art expos: SOFA
Chicago; San Francisco International Art Exposition; Scope Pier Show
(NY); Art Chicago; Affordable Art Fair (NY); and Outsider Art Fair (NY).
The artist has received several prestigious awards over the years, including
a Professional Division Juror’s Award, First Place, multiple Best of Shows,
and most significantly, a Purchase Award from the Columbus Museum of
Art (OH).
Bennett’s work has been documented in many catalogues and publications,
most notably ARTnews. She is currently represented by Art Access Gallery
in Columbus, OH and Koelsch Gallery in Houston, TX.