Artist Profile

Sanda Manuila was born and grew up in Geneva Switzerland of a Romanian family. Thus she experienced polarity early in her life: the constant pull between Calvinism and Romanian eccentricity and exuberance. She has been residing In Napa Valley for the last twenty years, dedicating her time to her two loves: wine and art.

In her work, Sanda aims to seize the paradox of the union of opposites, and in particular the polar opposites of life and death. It reveals two conflicting perspectives, one based on a rational view of reality and the other on the acceptance of the unusual as prosaic reality.

Over the last twenty years, Sanda has experienced with different media, leading her to mixing the media on canvas. She constructs meaning layer after layer with casein paint, sponging, rolling, brushing, distressing with cheese cloth or her fingers, adding collages and drawings. The application of eight to ten coats of varnish completes the work, giving it a sense of integration, making the collages disappear into the paint.

Sanda Manuila has shown her work in Paris, Montpellier, La Rochelle, Seattle, Napa Valley, Berkeley, San Francisco, Petaluma and San Rafael.