Sanda Iliescu was born in Romania in 1959 and moved to the United States as a teenager, carrying with her a rich cultural heritage that would inform both her art and her teaching. She pursued studies in civil engineering and architecture, earning a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Master of Architecture at Princeton University, an educational foundation that would later shape her multidisciplinary approach to art. From the start, Iliescu was drawn to the interplay between structure and creativity, a theme that would become central to her practice. Her work blends technical precision with aesthetic intuition, exploring how space, form, and materiality can be used to convey meaning beyond literal representation.

Iliescu’s artistic practice spans painting, drawing, collage, and large-scale public art, including murals and installations, often created collaboratively with students and community participants. Her studio work is characterized by a playful and experimental approach to materials, incorporating watercolor, acrylic, recycled paper, and found objects. She embraces imperfection and chance, allowing textures, marks, and gestures to carry narrative and emotional weight. Her works evoke a sense of immediacy, intimacy, and humor, capturing the fleeting, messy, and unexpected aspects of life. Through this approach, she creates a dialogue between the formal qualities of her materials and the conceptual ideas that animate her compositions.

In addition to her studio practice, Iliescu is recognized for her public art, which frequently addresses social issues and fosters community engagement. Her projects often transform public spaces into sites of reflection and dialogue, using art to connect people with history, memory, and each other. By incorporating participatory elements, she encourages viewers to become active contributors to the work, reinforcing the idea that art exists in relationship with its audience and environment. Her public installations explore themes such as social justice, collective memory, and the intersection of personal and communal experiences, revealing an artist deeply attuned to the power of art as a civic and ethical practice.