Artist Profile

Sandra Hansen’s creative journey began long ago, but her purpose came sharply into focus in 2014 after an agricultural disaster in Lake Erie killed thousands of fish. Her research into water pollution revealed how plastics infiltrate drinking water, lodge in fish stomachs, and damage underwater ecosystems. The sheer immensity of the problem compelled her to work at an equally enormous scale. She shifted from oil painting to handmade papermaking, creating ever‑larger sheets—first seven feet, then sixteen, and eventually a thirty‑foot life‑size humpback whale. She often embedded beach plastics directly into the paper pulp. These works expanded into immersive installations where viewers walk through underwater‑like spaces filled with paper sea creatures ensnared in plastic, merging artistry and environmental alarm into a single, compelling experience.

For two decades, Hansen has exhibited, taught, and held artist residencies across thirty countries, including four residencies in China, a solo exhibition at the Inner Mongolia Art Museum, and papermaking workshops at the Sichuan Arts and Culture College in 2025. She became the first person ever to make paper from the ancient Wollemi Pine during a residency near Sydney, and she has traveled to India twelve times to teach, exhibit, paint, and collaborate. Based in Holland, Michigan, Hansen earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in painting at Kendall College of Art and Design. Before becoming a visual artist, she spent eighteen years touring the United States as a performing artist, writing and staging five one‑woman plays on famous women in history. She created all costumes and sets.