Sharon Swidler

Lives and works in Chicago, IL

Artist statement

When I was growing up, one of my favorite pastimes was watching the sky; stars glittering and the moon floating in and out of clouds. As an adult, I became highly attuned to how I visually and emotionally perceive physical, personal and psychological spaces as I move through interior/exterior environments, and how the tangible, mental and emotion interruptions which often pierce or glide through these spaces alter it. (For example: clouds, utility lines, stars, thoughts). In my work, I often obscure the boundaries between natural and human-made space, line and form to symbolize our continuous transformation as we navigate or flow through our ever-changing surroundings. One minute you’re in the house warm and comfy, then you step outside, and you’re slapped by cold wind, shivering. My paintings and drawings are spaces in which to reflect on the simultaneous simplicity and complexity of this flow of being and, our relationship to natural and human-made spaces and structures. As American painter Mark Rothko said, "A painting is not a picture of an experience; it is an experience."

Artwork