Andrea Sulzer’s paintings begin on large makeshift stretchers – rough-hewn structures created from 2x4’s - the canvas stapled to the surface. For Sulzer, it’s important to see the edges of the surface while she’s painting. This offers her the freedom to move through the process with a feeling of discovery. Once a painting is formally stretched, it feels finished, only leaving room for subtle refinements.

A printmaker at heart, Sulzer builds each painting through a simultaneously thoughtful and spontaneous process of layering. She intentionally uses a lightweight canvas so the surface feels more permeable, allowing the color to be literally embedded inside the fibers of every piece.

Each painting begins with a thin wash of acrylic, wetting the canvas and starting intentionally on the back, then wetting the front to wick the color through the surface from back to front. Next, she applies three layers of clear gesso to the front of the canvas to fix the surface and prepare it for the addition of vinyl paint. Most often, she intends for the vinyl paint to go on cleanly, with sharp edges.

Sulzer chooses to work with raw canvas and clear gesso for its likeness to newsprint, allowing white to be a color within the work, rather than the ground. She occasionally uses white gesso under the vinyl paint in specific sections to make the color pop even more.

In a recent conversation, Sulzer said, “Painting always seemed so limitless to me, whereas paper has a finite workability. So much of my process is about trying to find limits for myself. I love taking something that feels so open and having it pull itself together. I need to find delight in what I’m doing. A need for discovery drives the work, as well as a sense of freedom, surprise, and wonder.”