By Patricia Zannie (02/03/2022)
Sandra Perez-Ramos is a Puerto Rican contemporary visual artist and a community art projects award-winning artist. She currently works in the Maryland/Washington, DC area and is a member of Gallery 209.
She believes everything is interconnected - different cultures, folklore, and myths. Her work has been influenced by nature, textiles and decorative and folk arts from around the world. Her fiber artworks range from festive to personal and abstract and have been inspired by many anonymous artisans, children’s book illustrators from her youth, and by contemporary fiber artists.
You don’t have to be a Walt Disney or a Dr. Seuss to appreciate the whimsical narratives and creatures she invents, or her fantastic and mystical explorations and her natural connections. Her highly stylized imagery comes from exploring many diverse cultures, and includes many foreign trinkets and fabrics into her own completely new and distinct style of artwork.
Sandra’s mixed media artwork includes intricate designs and colorful patterns. For example, Sandra’s blue elephant: it could have been an important figure in the cultural mythology of Africa and Asia, as well as a shared symbol in devotional beliefs, and in folklore, as a power animal. Yet, Sandra’s elephant is a shining, vibrant circus blue, dancing and smiling.
Her fiber artworks are also intricate and her fabric patterns are made with watercolor paper using water based pigment inks, acrylic and watercolor pens, and gouache. In most illustrations, there are 30 to 40 tiny lines/dots per square inch in the background. Each one can take anywhere from 14 to 30 hours to complete. In some cases, after finishing an original, she makes digital alterations to its image.
There is also a public art projects side to Sandra’s works. She knows the power of “Place” and her intention is to inspire connection with the community, and bring joy. Her Murals include Pike Connector/Bethesda Trolley Trail, Art Happens Here, and the Wheaton Gateway.
Some of her more recent Juried Public Art Awards include her:
2020 Hispanic Heritage Month poster;
“Lunatics” sculpture, for the Path of Pyramids installation;
2021 ”Celebration” sculpture installed at the Cherry Blossom Festival and purchased by the Children’s National Hospital; and
Design of “The Gathering Tree”, together with team member and artist Stuart Diekmeyer, for Glenmont Forest Park won the 2022 Public Art Project Implementation Grant by the Maryland State Arts Council.