Sally Stanton

Sally Stanton  (United States, born 1959), Red River, 2020, mixed media on birch panel, Courtesy of the artist 

Painter Sally Stanton finds inspiration in the natural beauty of Maine’s varied landscapes as well as its seasons. However, her current paintings are a stark departure from a lifetime of non-representational art-making.

A few years ago, she embarked on a body of figurative works, which is a longstanding tradition by Maine painters. Stanton credits this shift in her painting practice to her increased involvement with social media as well as the devolving political climate of the past four years. She likens her new painting endeavors to a “fascinating adventure: like dreaming awake.” 

Working intuitively in a process of additive and subtractive mark-making, Stanton begins with a visceral exploration of color and texture using acrylic paints, watercolor pencils, graphite, and collage. Archetypes and universal figures emerge throughout the compositions, as visible in the paintings on view here. Young children, older people, and newborns populate her canvases as they reach for, hold, or repel connection. As she excavates, she focuses and clarifies the figural forms, yet the narrative remains open-ended. Emotion is amplified through color—deep reds, hot magentas, muted browns and ochres, even cool blues. Stanton shared, “these visual narratives come from subliminal stimuli: memories, dreams, and the human stories that filter through from the unquiet world.”  

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“Sally Stanton’s ability to paint a crowd of people who seem closely linked visually and yet appear as distinct individuals speaks to a greater truth about our society even in pandemic times. These are not scenes Stanton has witnessed during her long isolation but rather a result of letting images unfold as she intuitively melds hot colors with drawn lines.”

– Katherine Bradford, Untitled juror

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Sally Stanton
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A few years ago, she embarked on a body of figurative works, which is a longstanding tradition by Maine painters. Stanton credits this shift in her painting practice to her increased involvement with social media as well as the devolving political climate of the past four years. She likens her new painting endeavors to a “fascinating adventure: like dreaming awake.”

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ARRT! (Artists’ Rapid Response Team!)
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Graeme Kennedyuntitled artists