About The Artist

Artist Biography

Sharon graduated in fine art and graphic design at what was then known as Natal Technikon. She subsequently embarked on an award-winning international career in advertising. Sharon moved to England for five years and created her own fashion label for children.

Back in South Africa, she returns to her roots in fine art and specializes in oil painting and printmaking. Sharon has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, and her work is held both locally and abroad. As an educator, Sharon commands a reputation of excellence through her printmaking studio in Illovo, Johannesburg through which numerous South African artists have emerged and grown.

Sharon is the co-founder of FAP – The South African Fine Art Print Fair.  FAP was the first national exhibition of its kind, dedicated solely to print.  The inaugural exhibition was held in Johannesburg in October 2015 and was highly acclaimed.  Being biennial, the third Fair will be held in 2019.

Sharon creates her own prints using an hydraulic printing press. “My favourite printmaking techniques include monotypes, collagraphs, linocuts and etchings. I enjoy the unpredictability of monotypes and aim to create a sea of vibrant inks which flow into one another and settle before printing. The end result is often incredulity when sometimes the final outcome has unexpected surprises.”

Sharon's fourth solo exhibition, "EVOCATION", will be held at GIBS, Gordon Institute of Business Science in Illovo, Johannesburg in September 2018. She is one of three South African artists (Solo X3) presenting their individual collections in a collaborative exhibition entitled Illusion/Allusion.

Sharon has used this exhibition as a springboard to showcase her most recent body of work, “Evocation” – the act of bringing or recalling a feeling, memory, or image to the conscious mind. "In Evocation, I revisit the human form, exploring the human body's relationship with its surroundings and space. The intermingling of lustrous inks and oils provides the perfect platform to express the ebb and flow of human relationships." With a sense of voyeurism, we see figures submerged in the depth of canvas and paper and re-emerge; they sometimes appear to be dissolving in liquid or shrouded behind mark-making, patterns and glyphs.

The works are presented as oil paintings and print. "I believe there is an alchemy between print and oil paintings. I work on several paintings at any one time. The prints ignite the canvasses, the canvasses feed off each other. Inspiration for one painting might be found in another – a thread of narrative emerges."