I CHOSE CURIOSITY OVER JUDGMENT

Sandra Bacchi is a Brazilian-American visual artist based in Pittsburgh, USA, working in photography, video, and glass. Her documentary and conceptual projects merge fiction and truth, crafting open-ended narratives that explore how people find common ground. Bacchi sees individuals as layered beings, each carrying a unique blend of history, family background, and life experiences into their relationships. She believes that by embracing others’ differences, we can connect more deeply with our own, leading to a more authentic and fully expressed life.

Bacchi earned a degree in photography from Escola Panamericana de Artes (São Paulo, Brazil) in 1997 and later transitioned to cinematography, working on short films, documentaries, and commercials in São Paulo and New York. In 2001, she attended the Hungarian International Cinematography Workshop, where she studied under Academy Award-winning cinematographers Vilmos Zsigmond and Laszlo Kovacs. From 2002 to 2012, she was the executive producer and owner of Estação 8, a video production company in São Paulo. After moving to the United States in 2012, Bacchi shifted her focus to her artistic career, with her work featured in over thirty national and international exhibitions, including the McDonough Museum of Art, Griffin Museum of Photography, and Houston Center for Photography. Her work has been reviewed in LensCratch, Float Photo Magazine, and A Curator, and she has participated in several prestigious portfolio reviews, including the 2018 Review Santa Fe.

In 2019-2020, Bacchi was an artist-in-residence at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, where she created new works for The United Exhibition and co-founded To See Beyond, an interactive experience that uses emotional intelligence and photography to expand participants’ creative expression. In 2021, her short film Seeking Nowhere was screened at international venues, including the Toyama Glass Art Museum in Japan, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, and North Lands Creative in Scotland.

In 2022, Bacchi’s photo series Watermelons Are Not Strawberries was published as a photobook by Yoffy Press, with an essay by Sarah Kennel. The series was also exhibited as a solo show at Concept Art Gallery in Pittsburgh, where Bacchi joined Kennel for a public talk. She also hosted a conversation with her two daughters, who were the subjects of the series, and Divya Rao Heffley at the Silver Eye Center for Photography’s book fair.

In 2024, Bacchi participated in several group exhibitions, including Smash the Ceiling, Floors, and Walls at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, We the People at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, and And Also Wide: Artist/Mother Lines at the Brew House Association. Additionally, Bacchi spoke on the “AI + The Arts” panel at the Warhol Academy/Pop District in Pittsburgh.

Looking ahead to 2025, Bacchi will be part of The Outwin 2025: American Portraiture Today at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. She is also set to complete two major public art installations: one for the main entrance of the Pittsburgh Glass Center and another for UPMC Shadyside Hospital. Additionally, she is directing, producing, and editing the short documentary Be the Best Threee, slated for release in 2025.

Bacchi serves as a board member at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, is a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, and was an artist-in-residence at the 2022-2023 Distillery Residency Program at the Brew House Association.

Solo Exhibition

2024

- Watermelons Are Not Strawberries, The Sewickley Library, Sewickley, PA

2022

- Watermelons Are Not Strawberries - Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA (Sept 10th - Oct.15th)

Two Person Exhibition

2020

- Disability Visibility - Irene Carlson Gallery of Photography, Curated by Shannon Benine. University of La Verne, CA (Apr. 03 - May 15)

Selected Group Exhibition

2025

- The Outwin 2025: American Portraiture Today – The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC. (juried by Daniel Lind-Ramos, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Carla Acevedo-Yates, Huey Copeland, Taína Caragol, Charlotte Ickes, and Rhea L. Combs)

2024

- Smash the ceiling, floors, and walls; take the broken shards and blow it back - Curated by Alyssa Velazquez, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, PA (Oct 4th 2024 - Jan 20th 2025)

- We the People - Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Altoona, PA (Jul 19th 2024 - Jan 19th 2025)

- And Also Wide: Artist/Mother Lines - Brew House Association, Flock Artist Collective, Pittsburgh, PA (Jul 18th - Sept 7th 2024)

- 2023-2024 Featured Artists Exhibition - The Associated Artist of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (Mar 9th - May. 17th)

- Shared Concerns - Verostko Center for the Arts / Saint Vincent College, curated by Andrew Julo, Latrobe, PA (Jan 25th - Apr. 4th)

2023

- Glass From Every Angle, 2023 Glass Art Society Detroit Conference, Detroit, MI (Jun 8th - July 31st)

- Rip, Repair, repeat - Brew House Association, the 2023 Distillery Group Exhibition, Pittsburgh, PA (Apr 20th - Jun 17th)

- Balanced Response - Media Arts Gallery, Robert Morris University, juried by Andrew Y. Ames and Christine Holtz Pittsburgh, PA (Jan 17th - Mar 17th)

2021

- Gathered locally - Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittisburgh, PA (Oct 1st - Jan 18th 2022)

- Pull and Push - Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, curated by Grace Chin, Pittisburgh, PA (Sept 16th - Oct 10th)

- Anthropology of Motherhood - McDonough Museum of Art, curated by Amy Bowman-McElhone and Fran Flaherty, Youngstown, OH

- Creation | Creativity, a show about mothers - Front Room Gallery, curated by Stephen Mallon, New York, NY, 2021 (May 1 - July 31)

- Into the Light - The Associated Artist of Pittsburgh, curated by Emma Vescio, Pittsburgh, PA (Feb. 22 - Mar. 13)

- Glass, Meet the Future 2021 film festival, North Land Creative, Toyama Glass Art Museum, Toyama, Japan, and Museum of Arts and Design - New York, NY (Mar. 20 - Apr. 04)

2020

- The united Exhibition - Pittsburgh Glass Center, curated by Johanna Lasner, juried Jaime Guerrero, and Karla Lamb Salazar. Pittsburgh, PA (Oct. 02 - Jan 2021)

- Anthropology of Motherhood - Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival and Carlow University, co-curated by Fran Flaherty and Amy Bowman-McElhone, and curatorial assistant by Katie Winter, Pittsburgh, PA (Oct. 19 - Jan. 29/2020)

- Paraty em Foco 2020 - 16th International Photography Festival, Paraty, RJ, Brazil

- Mastermind: Accessibility - Pittsburgh center for the Arts and Media. Juried by Pittsburgh Emerging Art Leaders network. Pittsburgh, PA

2019

- Com os olhos no Céu da Boca – Centro cultural Correios, curated by Sheila Oliveira, São Paulo, BR

- 25th Annual Juried Exhibition - Griffin Museum of Photography, Juried by Julie Grahame, Winchester, MA

- Intentional Spaces - Photo Place Gallery, juried by Laura Moya, Middlebury, VT

- Dive In - Don't Take Pictures, Juried by Kat Kiernan, online

- The curated fridge - spring 2019, Juried by Ashly Stohl and David Carol, Boston, MA

- Stivers Photo Auction - Stivers School for the Arts, Dayton, OH

2017

- Photography Now 2017 Exhibition - The Center for Photography at Woodstock, Juried by William Ewing, Woodstock, NY;

- Stories - PH21 Gallery, Juried by Zsolt Bátori, Juror’s choice, Budapest, HU

- Surreal Photography exhibition – The Passaporte, Juried by Sarah Sudhoff, Honorable Mention, (online)

- Black/White - A Smith Gallery, Juried by Elizabeth Avedon, Johnson City, TX

- 35th Annual Juried Membership Exhibition - Houston Center for Photography, Juried by Rebecca Senf, Houston, TX

- Black + White - The Center for Fine Art Photography, Juried by Ann M. Jastrab, Fort Collins, CO;

- 40th Anniversary Print Sale - The Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY

- She – A Smith Gallery, Juried by Kat Kiernan, Johnson City, TX

- Metro 31 - City Without Walls, Juried by Larry Ossei-Mensah, Siddhartha Mitter, Margaret O’Reilly, Newark, NJ

2016

- Procession – Pop Up Show curated by Gisela Gueiros, New York, NY

- Art / Formatto – Pop Up Show curated by Lica Pedroso, São Paulo - Brazil

PUBLIC ART

- Pittsburgh Glass Center main entrance, Pittsburgh, PA, 2025

- UPMC Shadyside Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA, 2025

PUBLICATION as author

- Photobook Watermelons Are Not Strawberries, essay by Sarah Kennel, publisher Yoffy Press, 2022

film

- Be The Best Tree (short documentary), 2025

- Speck of Time (short film), 2021

- Seeking Nowhere (short film), 2021

film screening

- Seeking Nowhere - “Glass, Meet the Future 2021 film festival”, screened at the Toyama Glass Art Museum - Japan, at the Museum of Arts and Design - New York, and at the North Lands Creative’s website, 2021

Bibliography

- Critica vol.#5, Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California Newsletter, 2024

- What Will You Remember? Book review, 2022

- Critica, Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California Newsletter, 2022

- Critica, Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California Newsletter, 2021

- iLeGaLiT, June 2020

- What will you remember, July 2019

- A Curator. December 2018

- LensCratch, Fine Art Photography Daily. November 2018

- Femme Fotale Vol. V: Resistance, Resilience & Hope. January 2018

- Edge of Humanity Magazine. September 2017

- Don’t Take Picture Magazine. July 2017

- Visionaire Magazine, Issue 41 World. 2003

Awards and Residency

- Residency, Brew House Association, Pittsburgh, PA, 2022-2023

- Award, Critical Mass 2021 top 200 finalist, Photolucida, 2021

- Residency, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, PA. 2019-2020

- Award, “Paraty em Foco” – Third Place at Paraty em Foco Festival, Paraty, Brazil, 2020

- Award, “As seen By” – First Place at BMW International Photography contest, Berlin, Germany, 1997

Panels and workshops

- Panel, AI + The Atrs, Pop District, Pittsburgh, PA 2024

- Panel, Rip, Repair, Repeat, Brew House Association, Pittsburgh, PA, 2023

- “Watermelons Are Not Strawberries” photobook talk with Sarah Kennel, The Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, 2022

- “Watermelons Are Not Strawberries” photobook talk, Silver Eye, Pittsburgh, PA, 2022

- Workshop, Transforme Seu Olhar (To See Beyond), a live and online experience that uses emotional intelligence and photography to broaden the participant's creative repertoire, 2020 – present

- Panel, Hanging on Every Word, listening and learning on immigration Art Panel discussion, SOFA, Intersect Chicago, online, 2020

- Panel, Chronic Illness Day Panel Talk, The Irene Carlson Gallery of Photography at University of La Verne, CA, online, 2020

- Panel, Com os olhos no céu da boca Panel talk, Empório Fotográfico, São Paulo, Brazil, online, 2019