BIO

Sandra Leatherman is a contemporary artist currently based in Colorado. After receiving her BFA in Studio Painting from the University of Florida, she was awarded a grant from the De La Cruz Collection, a prestigious museum in Miami, Florida, to attend a group study abroad in Paris, France. Her work has been exhibited at Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation and New World Gallery in Miami, Florida, and R Gallery in Boulder, Colorado. She presented a solo exhibition for Overcoming Odds, a nonprofit organization in Austin, TX. In addition to her studio practice, she is a graphic designer for local Colorado businesses and owns a woodworking studio with her husband making custom drums for nationally and internationally-known musicians and bands. Their drums have been on stage at the prestigious Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado and on the show of NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers. They have also been featured in Canvas Rebel Magazine.

Statement

I am a Romanian adoptee who was born during the chaotic aftermath of the fall of the Ceausescu regime. As a child in America, I drew imaginary portraits using my own facial features, hoping that it would help me recognize my biological family if I saw them in the street. This yearning for identity prompted me to search and locate my biological family. A trip to Romania at age 16 united me with the family I had only imagined. The reality brought joy, love, and complications. 

This life experience has led me to a community of adoptees who share adoption stories that are empowering and unique. My art expresses my adoption journey and gives a voice to other members of the adoption community as well. The adoption triad includes the adoptee, birth parents and adoptive parents. Within my work, I highlight the complexities of adoption– communication, language, displacement, relationships, emotional trauma, closure, and more. There are societal issues and stigma involving adoption including a fine line between adoption and human trafficking. I create art to build awareness so that the adoption system can be a safer experience.

In spite of meeting my biological family, I still have no definitive medical history. In 2018 I was struck with a life-altering diagnosis. I now utilize my everyday medical materials in my artwork to spread awareness about Type 1 diabetes. I have learned to navigate through life with this autoimmune disease and my condition has taken me to new heights – literally. As someone who enjoys a challenge, I put my physical abilities to the test and climb the tallest mountains in the continental U.S. – the Colorado fourteeners. These iconic mountains, at least 14,000 feet above sea level, are my favorite places to photograph unique perspectives of Mother Nature.