Andrea Schwartz Gallery
  • Exhibitions
    • Current
    • Previous
    • By Year >
      • 2023 >
        • Group Show
        • Tom Bolles
      • 2022 >
        • Group Show 2022
        • Deborah Bell & Heather Patterson
        • Suhas Bhujbal
        • Ned Evans & Mitch Jones
        • Barbara Kronlins & John Nelson
        • Patrick Dintino
        • Donald Bradford
        • Wynne Hayakawa
      • 2021 >
        • Group Show 2021
        • Ferdinanda Florence & Gwen Manfrin
        • Heather Patterson
        • Piero Spadaro
        • Cara Barer
        • COLOR
        • Tom Bolles
        • John Belingheri & Albert Dicruttalo
        • Robin Kandel
      • 2020 >
        • Gallery Group Show
        • Ned Evans
        • Suhas Bhujbal
        • Alex Couwenberg & Jeff Metz
        • Stitch Group Show
        • Patrick Dintino
        • Sarah Williams
        • Art Miami 2020
      • 2019 >
        • Gallery Group Show
        • Out of Town Group Show
        • Tom Bolles
        • Piero Spadaro
        • Cara Barer
        • Summer In SOMA
        • Wynne Hayakawa
        • John Belingheri
        • Danae Anderson
      • 2018 >
        • Group Show
        • Ned Evans & Jeff Metz
        • Gwen Manfrin & Tim Yankosky
        • Alex Couwenberg
        • Donald Bradford
        • Barbara Kronlins & Sarah Wililams
        • Patrick Dintino
        • Suhas Bhujbal
        • Seamus Conley & Albert Dicruttalo
      • 2017 >
        • Mitch Jones Julian Voss Andreae Exhibition 2017
        • John Belingheri Exhibition 2017
        • John Bonick - Tracy Krumm Exhibition
        • Chad Hasegawa
        • Cara Barer and Jamie Brunson
        • Gugger Petter
        • Tom Bolles
        • Piero Spadaro
        • Wynne Hayakawa - Ferdinand Florence
      • 2016 >
        • Anderson and Dicruttalo 2016
        • Robin Kandel
        • Patrick Dintino
        • ASG - SFAI MFA Highlights
        • Peter Combe
        • Suhas Bhujbal
        • Palladini and Weinstein
        • Alex Couwenberg
        • Imboden and Lobato
      • 2015 >
        • Barer and Hsu
        • John Belingheri
        • Krumm and Manfrin
        • Surface
        • Tom Bolles
        • Seamus Conley
        • Bell, Corrigan, and Tidwell
        • John Nelson
        • LA | SF
      • 2014 >
        • Suhas Bhujbal
        • Philip Buller
        • Patrick Dintino
        • Florence and Hayakawa
        • Bonick and Yankosky
        • Gugger Petter
        • Brunson and Kronlins
        • Robin Kandel
        • Crowd
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Sarah Williams

ABOUT | ARTIST STATEMENT | CV | PORTFOLIO
Artist Statement

It is my belief that art should originate through a painter’s personal experiences in her home environment. I see my whole life as preparation for the way I paint and the work I am currently making. This body of work is closely focused on my roots in the rural American Midwest. Being raised in a small town and then moving to an urban setting has made me aware of the seemingly mundane, anonymous scenes existing on the periphery that tend to be ignored. Recently I have become conscious that I am compelled to paint what I know best which is the environment from which I come. My perception of a specific sense of place guides me while these local settings offer abundant material.


Strong emotions can be prompted by a place. Over time, ways of life shape and define the people and the spaces in which they live. I am drawn to areas and structures that show character acquired from the history and memory of the people that formed that environment. Aesthetically I am interested in light sources and the play of light on surfaces. This led me to paint nightscapes of familiar yet isolated and unremarkable buildings, rooms and scenes located in rural areas close to my home. I use darkness to edit out extraneous information and provide the viewer with the essence of the place. Portraying these settings as nightscapes allows me to convey the emotional tone of the painting. The viewer’s location is not specifically implied because of the light source within the paintings. They must find their own way and decide their own approach when out in the rural night depicted in these works.

While I render my subject in a representational manner I like to fracture the form and accentuate the light through brushwork. I believe this approach makes these settings visually captivating and eerily mysterious at the same time. The viewer starts to unravel the mood of the painting not only with the primary area of focus, but through the combination of the secondary and even tertiary areas of focus. A viewer’s eyes must adjust so they will be able to see these subtle nuances that complete the character of the place. The artistic language applied to slightly familiar yet hauntingly isolated areas permits me to transform the common place and make the insignificant significant.

I like the idea of bringing paintings of small town life to the contemporary art scene in urban settings. I hope my work allows people to think about where they come from and take pride in the collective identity of their home region.

Andrea Schwartz Gallery

545 4th Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 | 415.495.2090 | info@asgallery.com
  • Exhibitions
    • Current
    • Previous
    • By Year >
      • 2023 >
        • Group Show
        • Tom Bolles
      • 2022 >
        • Group Show 2022
        • Deborah Bell & Heather Patterson
        • Suhas Bhujbal
        • Ned Evans & Mitch Jones
        • Barbara Kronlins & John Nelson
        • Patrick Dintino
        • Donald Bradford
        • Wynne Hayakawa
      • 2021 >
        • Group Show 2021
        • Ferdinanda Florence & Gwen Manfrin
        • Heather Patterson
        • Piero Spadaro
        • Cara Barer
        • COLOR
        • Tom Bolles
        • John Belingheri & Albert Dicruttalo
        • Robin Kandel
      • 2020 >
        • Gallery Group Show
        • Ned Evans
        • Suhas Bhujbal
        • Alex Couwenberg & Jeff Metz
        • Stitch Group Show
        • Patrick Dintino
        • Sarah Williams
        • Art Miami 2020
      • 2019 >
        • Gallery Group Show
        • Out of Town Group Show
        • Tom Bolles
        • Piero Spadaro
        • Cara Barer
        • Summer In SOMA
        • Wynne Hayakawa
        • John Belingheri
        • Danae Anderson
      • 2018 >
        • Group Show
        • Ned Evans & Jeff Metz
        • Gwen Manfrin & Tim Yankosky
        • Alex Couwenberg
        • Donald Bradford
        • Barbara Kronlins & Sarah Wililams
        • Patrick Dintino
        • Suhas Bhujbal
        • Seamus Conley & Albert Dicruttalo
      • 2017 >
        • Mitch Jones Julian Voss Andreae Exhibition 2017
        • John Belingheri Exhibition 2017
        • John Bonick - Tracy Krumm Exhibition
        • Chad Hasegawa
        • Cara Barer and Jamie Brunson
        • Gugger Petter
        • Tom Bolles
        • Piero Spadaro
        • Wynne Hayakawa - Ferdinand Florence
      • 2016 >
        • Anderson and Dicruttalo 2016
        • Robin Kandel
        • Patrick Dintino
        • ASG - SFAI MFA Highlights
        • Peter Combe
        • Suhas Bhujbal
        • Palladini and Weinstein
        • Alex Couwenberg
        • Imboden and Lobato
      • 2015 >
        • Barer and Hsu
        • John Belingheri
        • Krumm and Manfrin
        • Surface
        • Tom Bolles
        • Seamus Conley
        • Bell, Corrigan, and Tidwell
        • John Nelson
        • LA | SF
      • 2014 >
        • Suhas Bhujbal
        • Philip Buller
        • Patrick Dintino
        • Florence and Hayakawa
        • Bonick and Yankosky
        • Gugger Petter
        • Brunson and Kronlins
        • Robin Kandel
        • Crowd
  • Artists
    • Search by Name
  • News
  • Gallery
    • Staff
    • Gallery Rental
    • Artist Submissions
  • Contact
  • Bardessono
  • Hotel Yountville