Sandra Strele

Biography

Sandra Strēle graduated in 2016 from the Art Academy of Latvia, acquiring her Master's degree at the Department of Painting, also she had spent one semester as part of a student exchange programme at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. She received the visual arts scholarship of the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation in 2012, the Brederlo von Sengbusch
Art Prize in 2014, the SEB Banka scholarship in painting in 2016, the prestigious grant from The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation in Canada (2019, 2021) and Young Painter Prize in 2019. Sandra Strēle has held a number of solo exhibitions, participated in group exhibitions and artist residences in Italy, Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Norway, India, Belgium, Germany, France and elsewhere.

Sandra Strēle has received a Professional Doctor’s Degree in Arts in 2024.
In her creative work, Sandra Strēle explores forms of expanded painting through large-scale series in which plots, motifs, and characters evolve and transform, creating an ongoing narrative that feels both infinite and intimate. The artist refers to this approach as seriality—a dynamic where familiar images are recontextualized to spark new meanings and interpretations.

In her latest works, Strēle introduces an eclectic cast of characters: a trampoline, mushrooms, a garden gnome, a secret watcher, and more. Each one asks a different question. What lies hidden behind the thickets? Who is the observer, and who is the observed? What secrets are held in the splash of a pool? And what stories do the nostalgic garden gnomes whisper?

Strēle also delves into the contemporary discourse of hydrofeminism, particularly in the context of ecological crisis. In her new series, natural elements—such as mushrooms and water— engulf modern spaces like nine-story buildings, beaches, and tennis courts, suggesting the fragility of human constructions against the unstoppable forces of nature. Her work also reflects on themes of motherhood, bringing a deeply personal dimension to her exploration of environmental and feminist thought.
Sandra Strēle's paintings are housed in prominent collections including the Latvian National Museum of Art, the Lithuanian National Gallery of Art, the Lewben Art Foundation, and numerous private and public collections worldwide.

Education

PhD, Art Academy of Latvia, 2024

MA, Art Academy of Latvia, 2020

MA, Art Academy of Latvia, 2016

BA, Art Academy of Latvia, 2014

Diploma, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, 2013-2014

Private Collections

Awards
2022 PIAB Award, FIABCN, Barcelona, Spain
Finalist of the MArteLive contest for European young artists
2021 2 nd Grant from the The Elizabeth Greenshields foundation
European young artist contest “MArteLive”, finalist nomination
2020 Boynes emerging artist award (Australia). Top 20 nomination.
Wing gallery award (UK). Top 10 nomination.
2019 Grant from the Elizabeth Greenshields foundation
Young Painter’s Prize, Vilnius, Lithuania
“Latvian State Forests” scholarship in arts
Nomination for the “A kilogram of culture” for the solo exhibition “NOSTALGIA” (Riga art Space)
2018 Nomination for the “A kilogram of culture” for the solo exhibition “MELANCHOLY” (Jurmala city museum)
2016 SEB scholarship in painting
2014 „Brederlo von Sengbusch” Art Prize
2012 Inara Tetereva scholarship in Arts