Born in 1978 in the United States of America, R. Sawan White started her career in England as a classically trained printmaker and painter. Her academic career began as a Provost Scholar at Virginia Commonwealth University; she then transferred to Loughborough University School of Art and Design graduating with a First Degree BA Honors in Printmaking in 2000. Her work has exhibited all over the world including New York City, London, Taipei, New Zealand, Washington DC and Richmond, VA. Paintings by White can be found in private, corporate, and academic collections throughout the world. Along with creating, White has spent the last 20 years lecturing and leading seminars on contemporary aesthetics, and art history and practice. She was a founding faculty member at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and guest speaker at numerous galleries, museums, universities and art leagues. She currently lives and works in Rhode Island. Artist Statement:Trained as a traditional printmaker in the UK, I have always been enamored with the process and techniques of printmaking. The layering of plates and media, the physical nature of carving and etching, the interplay of ink and paper – I love all of it. Over the years, I have brought these disciplines into my painting practice. I use a variety of printing techniques to achieve transparency and depth on the surface of both my paintings and my prints. I’ve never been one to stick to one medium or format. I use what seems best suited to the idea. My work examines the careful relationships between self and society, language and meaning, misunderstanding and misappropriation. My current direction examines the delicate relationship between the individual and the cultural systems that surround and entangle common living. The paintings are built of layers of forms and colors, overlapping with one another and sometimes completely overshadowing each other. The resulting struggles are muted, subdued and tempered, with much of the movement happening just below the surface. Within the work vibrant colors push back against the surface. They float in and out of the composition mirroring our interactions with our own surroundings. The pieces explore the nature of how we relate to the overlay of cultural norms and expectations that cushion our small daily behavior. The forms and lines cannot be extracted from their surroundings; they are embedded and while at times affect the systems which encompass them, they are also subject to them.