Teri Sanders | New York Visual Artist & Portrait Painter

My work explores presence, character, and the quiet emotional weight carried by people and everyday objects. I’m drawn to textured surfaces, warm, earthy tones, and compositions that balance realism with painterly expression. Whether I’m painting a portrait, a still life, or an ordinary scene, I’m interested in the dignity found in close observation and in the stories that live beneath the surface.

I’m interested in the space between observation and feeling — creating paintings that feel grounded, contemplative, and deeply human. Whether I’m painting a face, an object, or a fleeting scene, I aim to capture the dignity and atmosphere inside it.

I’m a New York-based visual artist whose work has been shown at the National Portrait Gallery in London and featured on the covers of New York Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, as well as in the pages of The New Yorker and Atlantic. My practice is rooted in portraiture and visual storytelling, with an interest in presence, character, and the cultural significance of the images we live with.

more about me

I’m interested in the space between observation and feeling — creating paintings that feel grounded, contemplative, and deeply human. Whether I’m painting a face, an object, or a fleeting scene, I aim to capture the dignity and atmosphere inside it.

Art is how I translate feeling into form, giving shape to the quiet moments that words often miss.

selected Works

Available items