Queer musical theatre genius Stephen Sondheim said: “the art of making art is putting it together, bit by bit.”
And Sandi Goodwin has certainly done that, in a varied life which has encompassed being an aspiring dancer and actor, then HIV nurse and activist, theatre producer, and now an abstract painter.
She opened the book of her life to me, and to its many fascinating chapters, when we met recently in Valencia, Spain, where she now lives with her lifetime female partner.
Born in Camden, she tells me she was not really into visual art when she was younger but said “I’ve always been creative. I wanted to be in the theatre, an actor and a dancer.” And indeed one of her teachers suggested going to RADA.
Instead she went into nursing in Chelsea and then to working for the Saudi Government as a nurse. "It was fantastic: it opened up my world.” It led to buying a round the world travel ticket with her then husband and a gay friend, ending up in New Zealand.
“I documented my trip through writing poetry and sketching. When I arrived in New Zealand, I felt I didn’t belong there and didn’t settle. But then, I met a wonderful Māori woman - my first gay love.”
“There was incredible chemistry. I had no idea what was going on, except it was a really powerful feeling. She was really strong and very spiritual too.”
In the middle of all this, Sandi fell pregnant. “My new lover was a huge support but in the end she left: but it was the beginning of the opening up of my gay life and a realisation that there was no going back. And along came my beautiful son”.
“I met a new woman partner and we moved to another city. It was a very difficult period for me, and we eventually split up. I got my residency and went back into nursing.”
“I later met my life partner and love of my life and co-parent to my son”.
Back in London in the early 90s, Sandi became involved in HIV nursing first at St Mary’s Paddington. “I remember walking into a ward and being told it was an HIV ward and being asked - so are you going to stay? And I said yes of course. And I’d found what I wanted to do in nursing. This was my community.” She later worked at the Mildmay Mission and, for a long period at The London Lighthouse. “There were nurses who were HIV+ among the patients. It was an unusual time, to sometimes be caring for and supporting your colleagues.
There was a lot of stigma and fear around at this time. For example, when I did occasional shifts at other hospitals, some nurses walked away from me when I said where I worked, And I noticed my cup was often moved aside from others in the canteen."
Then it was back to New Zealand, and HIV nursing at the well-known Herne Bay House - a residential centre, working alongside her partner. The charity organisation always needed funds to keep going. “One of my successful ideas was to get all the hair salons in the city to cut hair for a day and give the proceeds to Herne Bay House.” For her efforts she won a fund-raising award. The service continued to run for another 10 years.
The fundraising work led to another career change, into event management and then into theatre production. Sandi became the co-producer of New Zealand’s Dance Festival, Tempo and the coordinator of DANZ.
“By now I was sketching a lot. For example, when I worked on a gay radio show as a presenter, I always used to draw ; something I’d done all my life. But I’ve always had impostor syndrome about painting because I didn’t have any formal training. I didn’t know where I fitted in. Another artist suggested I get rid of my brushes and apply the paint with a plastic credit card. She also said brushes restricted me and I should use my hands.” This was the beginning of another journey for Sandi.
“Once our son was grown up, we moved back to London and I continued working as a freelance theatre, dance and festival producer.”
Sandi is now based in Valencia. “I feel at home here - this is where I belong,” she told me in her studio at the Bloom Gallery, surrounded by dozens of canvasses. When we met she’d done three already that day. Her paintings can be found in many homes in Valencia and abroad too. During the Covid lockdown she drew daily sketches documenting her experiences and those of others. It became a book which was very popular.
A recent collaboration particularly struck me. It was with the rock band photographer Phillip Solomonson, also a Valencia resident.
He had photographed a flamenco dancer in full flight and Sandi abstracted the image into a painting full of colour and movement - quite stunning.
And Sandi goes from strength to strength with exhibitions and she’s working on wearable art, a concept she loves because of the joy it brings to everyone who wears her creation.
You can find her work at the Bloom Gallery and on ARTSY.
The Bloom Gallery, Carrer de Lluis Oliag,46006 Valencia.
