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Knoxville artist turns strangers into masterpieces

"Kind of like a wildlife photographer, but it's humans in their natural environment."

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — When Denise Stewart-Sanabria looks at a stranger, she sees art. 

"I've never had anyone get mad at me. When they find out I drew them, they usually get really excited because I try to make them look really good. Of course, I always think they look great anyway," Sanabria said. 

The Knoxville artist compares herself to a wildlife photographer of sorts. 

"It's almost like birds flocking, how people inhabit a space. Friends will cluster together and people will respect each other's physical space as they walk around and look at the artwork," Sanabria said. 

She captures pictures of people at art galleries and shows, sometimes in Nashville, sometimes along Gay Street in Knoxville. 

"When someone walks underneath the lights and looks absolutely fabulous and are absorbed in what they're doing. I'll push my finger down on the shutter," Sanabria explained. "When you photograph people at art receptions, it's usually a Friday or Saturday night. They're feeling great. They're out, and they're unwinding. They've got wine in a plastic cup. They're at their happiest." 

She uses pencils, charcoal and plywood to create her lifelike sculptures from the pictures she's captured. 

The backgrounds of the original photos are stripped away, and you're left imagining what someone was thinking, what they were looking at, or what they were saying when the picture was taken. 

"Generally, when [people] walk up to a piece, they stare directly into a person's face. They walk right up to them like they're meeting them, then they'll check their clothing and what their hands are doing," Sanabria said about how people absorb her pieces. "My drawings are about the best of human behavior, my food paintings are not." 

Credit: Denise Stewart-Sanabria
"The Debauchery of Versailles"

In contrast to the "virtual reality people," as Sanabria coined them, her colorful food paintings depict what's wrong with society. 

With bright, over-saturated colors and whimsical backgrounds, she decimates delicious-looking desserts, fruits and vegetables.

Credit: Denise Stewart-Sanabria
"No. 130 Coral Creme Glitter"

"I did a whole series on how we try to make food look really pretty for the extreme detriment of nutrition," Sanabria said. "This one with the Moon Pies is about cosmetic beautification of food. I dripped glitter fingernail polish all over it." 

It's a unique perspective on the food and people we see every day. 

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