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Fierce Flora & Fiesty Fauna
In 1998 Sharon had a comprehensive one woman show at the Center for Contemporary Art in Peoria, Illinois that covered the many different milestones of her artistic career. She returned in 2009 with a show of recent work including pieces from her pitcher plant series, fish vessels, mixed media artworks, as well as 'Intelligent Heart". The "Carnivora" Series, based on carnivorous types of plants is a progression of a continuously evolving investigation into the endless mulipliciy of forms of exuberant botanical anatomy.
Some of the pieces even sport utilitarian handles transforming them from simply implied metaphor into the physical actuality of 'pitcher plant pitchers'. This series is based specifically upon traits more characteristic of actual carnivourous of plants genuses than is her "Biophilia" series. Some giving a nod to the related family of tropical "Nepenthes" while others are influenced by the North American "Sarracenia".
As translated directly from archaic Greek, the term "Nepenthes" translates to the 'forgetfulness of one's sorrows'. One whiff of its sweet scent bring ultimate forgetfulness to the insects who slip into the deadly chamber and are subsequently then digested by the plant. This survival technique evolved to compensate for the nutrient poor bog environment that the pitcher plants dwell in.
Some of the pieces even sport utilitarian handles transforming them from simply implied metaphor into the physical actuality of 'pitcher plant pitchers'. This series is based specifically upon traits more characteristic of actual carnivourous of plants genuses than is her "Biophilia" series. Some giving a nod to the related family of tropical "Nepenthes" while others are influenced by the North American "Sarracenia".
As translated directly from archaic Greek, the term "Nepenthes" translates to the 'forgetfulness of one's sorrows'. One whiff of its sweet scent bring ultimate forgetfulness to the insects who slip into the deadly chamber and are subsequently then digested by the plant. This survival technique evolved to compensate for the nutrient poor bog environment that the pitcher plants dwell in.
The Fauna in this show includes freshwater fish from the Rio Pastaza in Peru, where 22 new species of fish were discovered on an Aqua R.A.P.Expedition sponsored by the Field Museum and Conservation International. In the insect world I have been exploring the fantastic forms of 'Phasmids' or Leaf insects and the Praying Mantis. This body of work is concerned with a few fragments of the �amazing treasure of biodiversity that has evolved over the millennia and is now imperiled by habitat loss, poisoning of ecosystems with toxic petro chemicals, and global warming.
