Sandy Dyas

Sandy Dyas Photography

Sandy Dyas uses art to make sense of her life and to find truth. She does this by photo documentation and by creating her own visual language that she can share with others. Her photography is effective because of the way it portrays her familiarity to the identities and cultures that inhabit the Midwest and specifically Iowa. Her relationship to the Midwest reminded me David Foster Wallace’s speculations of the region in A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again: "Those from IN/WI/ Northern IL think of their own Midwest as agronomics and commodity futures and corn-detasseling and bean-walking and seed-company caps, apple-cheeked Nordic types, cider and slaughter and football games with white fogbanks of breath exiting helmets".

Themes of friendships, small town shops, vintage cars, hunting souvenirs, old-time folk artists and kooky advertisements bring sensations of vibrancy, curiosity and tenderness in Dyas’ work. Her most effective work is her portraits of musicians. She is able to capture their soul, vigor and authentic country charm.

Dyas’ work inspired me think about my connection to landscape and location. In recent years, my neighborhood, the Mission District in San Francisco, has been rapidly developing. Every time I come back home I find that new artisan organic bakeries, designer coffee shops and vintage bottled soda shops are replacing the dollar stores, kitchy wedding decoration shops and family-run taquerias that I grew up walking past. Watching this change take place saddens me. I feel my neighborhood, which was such an important part of my childhood, is growing up in this burst of popularity and loosing a lot of its quirky charm. Although some of the changes taking place are enticing it has felt slightly unsettling to come home not to experience familiarity here that I knew my whole life. I agree with Sandy that you never really know your true opinion about a place until you have left and come back.