sandrA DURAN WILSON

Sandra Duran Wilson is an internationally recognized artist, author, lecturer, and juror. Her innovative, award-winning mixed-media art has been influenced by her extensive scientific background and her experience with synesthesia.

Born and raised on the border of Mexico, Sandra currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Sandra’s many honors and accolades include having her art “We Are All Connected” selected for the permanent collection and installation in the Santa Fe Convention Center. This painting is displayed in the main entry of the building alongside other notable New Mexico artists. Her art installation for the World Premiere Opera, “The Revolution of Steve Jobs” was included in the Spectacle Show in Santa Fe, NM.

She is also the recipient of several Art in Public Places awards from the state of New Mexico. In 2021 she received the honor of an Artist Residence at the Chateau d’Orquevaux in France.

Her artwork is included in many private, corporate, and educational collections worldwide and she is represented by galleries in the U.S. and Australia. Sandra‘s numerous one-person and group exhibitions span the globe including several exhibitions in Australia and Europe. A recent solo show at Popejoy Hall, the Performing Arts Center in Albuquerque, NM, returned her to her alma mater, the University of New Mexico. Another distinction includes having her artwork “New Worlds”, which is in a collection in Germany, selected as a digital image to travel on the spaceship Osiris-Rex to the asteroid Bennu.

About her artistic vision Sandra states, “My art is driven by curiosity and the possibilities of what materials can do, especially when combined in unusual ways. I incorporate printmaking, collage, acrylic painting, and even three-dimensional elements into my work. I explore concepts like time travel and physics along with dreams and symbols. A kind of crazy mixed-up world of science and fantasy.”

She grew up on the border of Mexico with healers, scientists, and artists, and explains, “I was free to explore the land, and anything seemed possible. This same passion and curiosity I have for the materials have pushed me to expand beyond the flat surface. I create three dimensional sculptures which incorporate layers of acrylic paint onto cast acrylic and the pieces are fused together like glass using resin. Light moves through them and they have multiple images depending on the angle of viewing.”
Sandra is a highly regarded author of six best-selling art technique books for Penguin Random House, including Awakening Your Creative Soul. She also initiated an International Creativity Community, through which she hosts blogs, video lessons and community building support.

Recognized for her technical artistic proficiency, Sandra has served as an Ampersand Artist Ambassador.
As a noted artist, author, and lecturer, Sandra has travelled worldwide on the invitation of many distinguished art organizations including Watermedia Society of Hawaii and The Rocky Mountain Collage Society. She has served as a juror for several prestigious organizations, schools, and community groups.

Sandra was selected as a Sponsored Artist by Bold Brush and Fine Art Studio Online.
Over the years she has received several Awards of Excellence in juried exhibitions presented in the Manhattan Arts International curated online gallery.

As a child she apprenticed under her great aunt Santa Duran, a renowned artist (1909-2002). She says that she also developed her love for mixed media as a child while taking art classes with her neighbor, a retired art teacher. She later pursued studies in psychology and chemistry and earned degrees in both Fine Art and Cognitive Science from the University of New Mexico.