Sandy Middleton

"Layers of Light"

Layers of time, layers of meaning.

Presently my work continues to unfold, in layers in both meaning and of materials. 
Photography has always been a crucial component of my life but when I discovered the encaustic medium I felt at home. I love the overall process and I see it as a metaphor for life itself. A painting evolves through the accumulation of countless layers of the hot, melted, encaustic medium. I think of how this cumulative process of layering and fusing those layers resembles the collection of life experiences. Each layer presents options, possibilities and choices.  The image, while important is deconstructed to allow for subliminal connection with the viewer. I have recently encountered a new awareness, perhaps for the first time, my need for authentic self-expression and how to apply it within my work. 
This current body of paper & encaustic sculptural works, came from solitary time, and forced isolation. Managing the chaos of the external by carefully dissecting time into small manageable moments. Perfect little pieces fluttering, layering then fused together yet still weightless and ethereal. In the end allowing the process to guide me as it neatly comes together, order and conformity restored. 

Sandy Middleton is a mixed media photographic artist who resides in St. Catharines, Ontario. Her education and background is in still photography with a degree from Toronto Metropolitan University. After relocating to Niagara, she was able to begin making both fine art & conceptual based work. Middleton has exhibited extensively throughout Ontario including shows such as the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition where she won two consecutive awards, for Best in Paper in 2023 and The Petroff Award in 2024. The Artist Project, as well as feature gallery exhibitions including The Grimsby Public Art Gallery in 2019. In 2021 she was nominated as one of 52 finalists for the Salt Spring National Arts Award. 
Middleton was nominated on two occasions for the St. Catharines Arts Awards and she won for Established Artist in 2023. Finally, she was the Chair of the Arts and Culture Committee for the City of St. Catharines for 12 years and is a champion for art and culture in her community.