Like most artists, Sharon has engaged in artistic pursuits most of her life. Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, she was raised in New Jersey and lived in Boston and Los Angeles for a number of years prior to moving to Portland, Oregon in 1991. Sharon is largely self-taught, although she has taken numerous classes and workshops over the years. Her interest in the design of the man-made environment led her to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in Urban Design and Community Development. After receiving a B.A. from Tufts University and a Master’s at MIT, she embarked on a career in public transit and urban development for over 20 years.
During that time, Sharon engaged in a parallel pursuit of art, starting with realistic watercolors, and eventually migrating towards abstract mixed media. Upon becoming a full time artist in 1999, began doing murals and hand-painted tiles for private, non-profit and commercial clients, in addition to her own artwork. As her interest in collage as a fine art medium evolved, she focused on that medium, seeking to hone design and technique skills. She began teaching abstract collage in 2002, and continues to do so at a local art center, in her own studio, and as a guest instructor. She shows her work in galleries and juried shows in the Northwest and Washington, D.C.
I believe that art, like music, is a form of communication that conveys ideas on a level beyond language. Engaging in art makes me think more carefully about how to express sentiments and elicit response from viewers. A piece of art has its own voice, and speaks to each person a different way, long after the artist is no longer there to articulate his or her vision. Most of my pieces have a specific socio-cultural reference that may include images, symbols, patterns, or other elements relating to particular cultures. These are usually set against an abstract background, symbolizing the modern world. None of us can claim to be “pure” anything – we are all the most recent version of a long lineage of mixing, matching, moving, migrating, absorbing and adapting, both physically and culturally.