Laura Sanders creates paintings of women and girls immersed in natural environments that merge the genres of landscape and figurative work. Her subject matter considers the complex realities of women venturing beyond perceived safe places. For a woman, experiencing solitude and a connection with nature is fraught with considerations and hesitations. Sanders articulates these fears and longings with an expressive painting style that puts forefront the tactile and luscious material qualities of oil paint. Sanders’ robust use of paint creates an almost photorealistic image that, when viewed in person, reveals its construction, inviting the viewer to slow down and experience the physical evidence of the hand in the haptic marks of the paint.

Sanders has presented her paintings in solo and group exhibitions at galleries and museums across the U.S. In 2024, her work was the subject of a solo exhibition, Her Habitat, at Contemporary Art Matters, Columbus, OH. Her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions. Recent shows include Here’s Looking at You, Plato Gallery, New York, NY; Rewilding, Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; The Scenic Route, 1969 Gallery, New York, NY; Shape of an Image, curated by Sasha Bogojev, Woaw Gallery, Hong Kong; and Xenia: Crossroads in Portrait Painting, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, NY. Her work has been featured in New American Paintings, Issues 77 and 149. In 2022, she curated the group exhibition To Die For at Contemporary Art Matters, Columbus, OH. She has received a number of grants from arts organizations, including The Greater Columbus Arts Council’s Individual Artist Award in 2011 and the Ohio Arts Council’s Individual Excellence Award in 2009, 2013, and 2019. She has been awarded artist residencies at the Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA, and the Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, MA. Her work is held in many public and private collections, including the Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH; The Scantland Family Collection, Columbus, OH; The Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, West Palm Beach, FL; and The Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH. In 1988, she received her BFA from Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, OH. She lives and works in Columbus, OH, and maintains a studio in Long Island City, NY.

The Contemporary Dayton is located at 25 West Fourth Street, Dayton Ohio.

 These treasures appear like glistening shells but represent a culture and time unacknowledged by the sea. Some sit upright while others are tipped on their sides revealing the maker’s marks on their bases. Gall’s spare painting style uses the blond wood it is painted upon as a color element in the composition. Transparent washes of paint and nuanced line delineate the animal characters, one can imagine the delight in discovering these decorative artifacts strewn like tidal bounty. 

Juxtaposing the natural forces of the sea with the fragile nature of the keepsakes continues a prominent theme in Gall’s work: that of the time worn, which she presents with humor and wit. In her paintings It’s Just Lust and Dream Lovers, she gives the figurines a more pronounced narrative role, staging playful dramas beneath the pier’s pylons, where splashing water animates their imagined desires.

A cherished figure in the Columbus art scene, Linda Gall (b. 1949, Columbus, OH) has remained a respected artist and mentor throughout her career, playing a key role in the early years of the Ohio Art League and working for galleries and institutions like the Pizzuti Collection. Gall has exhibited extensively throughout the U.S., participating in group shows and more than 20 solo exhibitions. Most recently, in 2024, her work was the subject of the solo exhibition Life is Funny at the Sarah Gormley Gallery in Columbus, OH. She has been awarded residencies at the Robert M. McNamara Foundation in Westport, Maine, and the OAC’s residency at the Art Center/South Florida in Miami Beach, FL. Gall’s work can be found in numerous public and private collections, including the Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH; Zanesville Museum of Art, Zanesville, OH; and the Atlanta Empowerment Zone, Atlanta, GA. In 1979, Gall received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Livingston College, Rutgers University, and in 1981, her Master of Fine Arts from the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. She lives and works in Zanesville, OH.