Sandra Iafrate
Landscape Series
This continuous body of work of landscape painting shows images from the Niagara Region and Northern Ontario, primarily made with oil paint on large and over-sized canvas sharing a memory of nature in a dreamy and nostalgic way. My subjects range from iconic landscape views which include wildflowers, foliage or lakes and rivers of protected lands and species. I work to capture this vista in atmospheric light and movement while representing these subjects as a supersized postcard from the past. Nature is ancient and has suffered years of misuse and deterioration. My paintings are a screen; beyond a vague and tattered view of the past. I want to recall untouched nature as it was with a beautiful and poignant imagery that seems weathered over time My inspiration comes from memories of Niagara and other utopian places: family road trips of my childhood and the snapshot of the iconic lookout point. I’m in awe of Algonquin Park, superlative trees, the abundance of wildflowers in a field and majestic waterways. I am especially inspired by landscapes that are sensitive or damaged and deemed “Areas of Concern” in our environment. I am drawn to the dichotomy of their beauty and underlying and often unseen fragility. With color choices of neutral tones with light pinks, blues and greens, I use a palette knife and diluted oil paints. I smear and drip paint, carve out scratches and create imperfect and blurred shapes to suggest a memorandum scuffed with time. . I would like my large canvases to make you stop and think, take a walk into nature as it was.
Above: Niagara River, Niagara Falls and Niagara Gorge Trail “48”x36”x2.75” oil on canvas by Sandra Iafrate 2021-22 To check availability please click on image. (Also available in print.)