Sandro Gebert

Swiss-American Artist

I am a painter and sculptor driven by curiosity, how it begins, how it lingers, and how it shapes the way we move through the world.

My work combines bold graphic forms with layered, weathered surfaces and symbolic imagery. I am drawn to playful surrealism, using exaggerated and slightly strange figures that function as archetypes rather than illustrations. These forms are intentionally open ended, inviting viewers to project their own narratives into the work.

In 2018, the Woolsey Fire destroyed my studio and two decades of work. The loss forced me to reconsider what remains when the objects are gone. That rupture reshaped my practice. The torn pages, distressed textures, and worn marks that define my surfaces are not stylistic gestures. They emerged from rebuilding. Each panel is constructed and revised repeatedly, layered and stripped back, accumulating history the way a wall accumulates weather.

Working primarily in acrylic on wood panel, I build through process and visible revision. Vintage text, scratches, drips, and fragments remain embedded in the surface. I do not remove imperfection. I allow it to speak. A predominantly black and white palette, punctuated by restrained bursts of color, creates tension between clarity and disruption. My powder coated steel sculptures extend this language into three dimensions, translating graphic ideograms into physical space.

Influenced by printmaking, street art, literature, and storytelling, I work toward clarity of form and complexity of surface. The shapes are simple. The meanings are not. Each surface holds time, allowing interpretation to unfold rather than conclude.

Rather than offering answers, my work creates space for reflection. Curiosity becomes both subject and method, a way of navigating loss, resilience, symbolism, and possibility.