SHARON WEINER
“Color conveys emotion and I feel like the color speaks to me.”
Interview by Amanda Quinn Olivar, Editor
Sharon Weiner was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. She relocated to Los Angeles in 1971 where she currently lives and works. She received her BA degree from the University of Missouri and her MFA from Claremont Graduate University. She is represented by Alan Avery Art Company in Atlanta, GA and Fabrik Projects in Culver City, CA. Her paintings have been exhibited locally and nationally and are included in many collections such as the Portland Art Museum, Adobe Systems, Inc., and the Wellington Management Company.
Amanda Quinn Olivar: What made you want to be an artist?
Sharon Weiner: I’ve always been a visually oriented person and felt like I wanted to be a designer or an artist. I had a strong compulsion to be creative but I didn’t grow up in a family that valued or had any interest in art. I was discouraged from following that path, so in college I studied sociology with plans to become a social worker, while still wanting to do art. Those plans changed when I moved to Los Angeles after school with my husband and small daughter. I began taking art classes and getting more involved in art and after quite some time I put together a portfolio and applied to graduate school at Claremont Graduate University.
AQO: What drew you to painting as your medium of choice?
SW: I’ve experimented with making welded steel and wood sculpture and printmaking but I didn’t connect to them as I did to painting. Painting just felt right.
Source, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches
Whispers, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 inches
AQO: What brought you to Los Angeles?
SW: I was working one summer break from college at a hospital in St. Louis. I was a secretary in the ward. My aunt was a nurse and had helped me to get the job. I hated the job and tried very hard to find something else. But fortunately, I stayed the summer and met my husband who was a medical student at the time. So it all worked out. He is originally from Los Angeles and was going to medical school at Washington University in St. Louis. We subsequently got married and moved to Los Angeles. I had always wanted to move to the west coast.
AMQ: How would you describe your work/subject matter?
SW: My art consists of abstract acrylic paintings on canvas. It involves manipulating medium and paint onto a horizontal canvas as well as using airbrushing, spray paint, painting with a brush, and acrylic marking pens. It usually needs several layers of paint and medium in order to form a skin on the canvas as a base.
AQO: What themes seem to reoccur in your work? Are you exploring memories and personal experiences?
SW: I am exploring personal experiences in my art. The work is a visualization of my experience of my life, giving visual form to what my life feels like. Even though I start off with an idea of where I want to go, what I enjoy most about it is that I’m never sure of where the work is going to end up.
Is it Really Freedom, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 96 inches
Stories I Was Told, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches
AQO: Was there a specific moment or impetus that inspired your new series?
SW: I don’t think there was a specific moment or impetus that inspired these two new series. I had been feeling dissatisfied and restless with my work. It was much more of a gradual evolution, one thing leading to another.
AQO: Tell us about your creative process… and the roles that form and color play.
SW: I had been pouring my paintings but now I combine more techniques into the process allowing me to incorporate more color and different forms. Color conveys emotion and I feel like the color speaks to me. The forms do as well and are an integral part of the painting. I have some idea of the direction I want to go in but that often changes as I mainly work in an intuitive manner and respond to what came before.
AQO: What is most important to you about the visual experiences you create?
SW: It’s challenging and keeps me going as I’m always trying to improve it. It also gives me a sense of momentary fulfillment and I love being able to share it with people. It’s another form of communication and I feel like it conveys something that my words alone can’t do.
The Full Story, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 inches
AQO: Is there a story behind The Full Story?
SW: The Full Story refers to finding out what really is going on with someone, not just what it appears to be or what they tell you. It most likely is unconscious, so the person is probably not aware of it. I find it intriguing to try to figure it out.
AQO: The title of your inaugural exhibition at Fabrik Projects is In Bloom. Is there a story behind the title? Is the title referenced in the work on view?
SW: In Bloom, the title of my upcoming show at Fabrik Projects, refers to a couple of things. First of all, the show is rather unusual as there are two different series hanging in the show, in different areas of the gallery. I had been working on both simultaneously as they seemed to feed on one another. They involve very different techniques but are both expressing different aspects of my experience of life. Chris Davies, the director of Fabrik Projects suggested we hang both series in separate areas. I came to the title as I was preparing work for the show and was looking around the studio and thinking some of the paintings reminded me of the cosmos or nature with flowers blooming which is a nice respite from the world right now. The other series is very different but anyway In Bloom is more a metaphor for the development of a psychological nature and applies to both series. The name just felt right to me because of some recent very personal experiences I was having.
Waking World, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches
AQO: Please relate a memory that influenced or changed your life and artistic outlook.
SW: A memory that influenced me was a trip to Italy many years ago. I was able to go to Padua to see Giotto’s fresco in the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel. It had a huge impact on me, solidifying my desire to pursue a career as a painter. I had almost passed on seeing it as I felt very sick with a bad cold and had traveled on a bus for a long time. My husband, fortunately, made me get out and look. I remember feeling very moved and transported.
AQO: What is your favorite art accident?
SW: I love “art accidents”. One recent one is when I was rushing and added too much of one of the mediums I usually use to some paint I was pouring. It actually gave me a much more interesting unexpected result. I’m always thankful for the “accidents”.
Detail of painting in progress
Sharon Weiner’s recent exhibition In Bloom at Fabrik Projects, ran October 26—November 16, 2019.
All images courtesy of the artist
