ALCHEMY Process

                                       

2024 - 2025   Exhibitions  

I have decided to concentrate on a body of work that will be used in my next two exhibitions.

I will produce six 60x60cm paintings for BIA for 2024 and Six  60 x 60cm for Esk Glen Rock Gallery for May 2025.

 BIRD  exhibition at The Brisbane Institute of Art November 9th - 19th, 2024 

Sharon Lee    Linda Black    Lyn Derrick

Our group have been exhibiting together for over twenty five years.

Following on from our exhibition in The Esk Regional Art Gallery, 2019-2020, our group has decided to continue with the theme 'BIRD' 

We booked gallery NONA for 2022, but the flood and renovations meant the exhibition was postponed. We re-booked for 2024. In a way this delay was a blessing. It gave us plenty of time to develop a better series of works. 

For me the theme of BIRD and TOGETHER are tangled-up with the threats to the ecosystem.

I want the viewer to ask of themselves and our society : when will we accept that there is a symbiotic relationship between nature, humans and the environs, and that we are all the same when threatened by catastrophic conditions?

   

I tend to want there to be a concept. So to start, I look for inspiration.  For this body of work the inspiration started when my own adult children told me they were disinclined to have children.

They did not want to bring children into a world threatened by so many environmental disasters.

Combining this with the observation, that birds are threatened and undervalued - ideas started percolating.

1/ In a world threatened by catastrophic conditions not only will we loose our birds but we could also loose our children.

2/ Which birds? Just the threatened or should I include the common? 

    Australian or worldwide?

3/ Using photographs of my own children when they were far younger, I started the process with drawing children and birds separately.

  

When I came across this jigsaw, that my own children once adored, it gave me an idea. 

What if humans were physically and psychologically joined to birds? 

If what happened to one, happened to the other?

Through environmental storytelling I have decided to portray birds with human bodies, to signify that no ecosystem exists in a vacuum. What happens to animals, birds, vegetation and humans is inevitably tangled together.

3/ Cut them up and arrange so the amalgamated child/bird looks as if they are one species.

                   

     

Draw them with the chosen combination. Then decide

 

4/ Medium - Oils or acrylics?

5/ What will they be doing? Will the backgrounds highlight catastrophic conditions?

6/ Size? Color's? Atmosphere?  A reckoning?  Warning? 

    Or should I make the threat more subtle? 

ALCHEMY

 

ALCHEMY

We are travelers on a cosmic journey,

stardust swirling and dancing in the eddies

and whirlpools of infinity.

Life is eternal.

We have stopped for a moment 

to encounter each other,

to meet, to love, to share.

This is a precious moment.

It is a little parenthesis in eternity.

-Paulo Coelho

In this painting Alchemy, it's about the seemingly magical process of transformation, or creation, or a combination. 

When I think about the children that will live in the future, I feel that the world will desperately need magic, transformation and creation.

The girl in this painting is the gift giver.  She has a plant in her hand, representing new growth. The other is the storytelling. The recorder of history. 

The temple represents fire, earth, air, water and the unknown of the void. The sea represents strength, endlessness and hope. The mat shows new growth. The taking of tea represents harmony, balance, hospitality, and friendship.

The sky has a blush representing the world’s ability to reset. 

It represents HOPE

So, number one completed now to work the process to created 11 more !!

Artists statement

   

Growing up in Papua New Guinea, living on an isolated Island in Bougainville, PNG and then moving to acreage in Crossdale, Queensland, I have always felt fortunate to be able to observe and interpret the kaleidoscope of colors and designs, in habitat with areas of natural biodiversity.

 

I managed both an art supply shop at the Brisbane Institute of Art and an artist’s retreat in the beautiful Somerset Shire for over a decade. And both of these ventures allowed me to learn many creative, technique-based processes. Intaglio, Lino, mono and screen printing, have influenced the way I approach line, composition, design and color. Learning the processes used in sculpture, ceramics and jewelry-making has contributed to the way I process ideas and express spatial form.

I blend my appreciation for compelling narratives with the excitement of manipulating nature’s complex and transient structures. It was Max Ernst (1891 – 1976) who said, ‘an artist must have one eye on the outer world, while the other eye looks towards the inner world.’ And it is with this in mind that I create multi-layered paintings evocative of the landscape, while inserting an irrational or troublesome idea. However, unlike the melancholy of Ernst, I hope my works are a joyful experience, each a visual haiku of a memory I yearn to keep, while encouraging the viewer to connect with their own memories, to generate their own unique narrative.

Birds have always represented wisdom, adaptation, diligence, rebirth, and courage. All the attributes we will need if we wish to repair and maintain our ecosystem. By portraying birds and human children combined, I question, if birds were considered priceless treasures of worth, perhaps our relationship with them and the ecosystem would be more considered. Perhaps if we considered birds as being as valuable to us as our own children, we would apportion them more value—more care?

By using environmental storytelling I hope the viewer will not be instantly repelled by the horror of the concept, but take the time to look at the bright colors, scenery, toys, and allow the images - the time needed - for them to ask their one overriding question: when will we accept that there is a symbiotic relationship between nature, humans and the environs, and that we are all the same when threatened by catastrophic conditions?

Sharon Lee 2020-2025

Exhibition July2021

 Crossdale5

Condensery. Somerset Regional Art Gallery

We had a very enjoyable opening. Work was curated by the Gallery Director, Rachel Arndt and hung with help from the galleries enthusiastic volunteers.

I thought it was lovely to arrive just prior to opening to be greeted by family and friends, without the hassle of  organizing labels, hanging our work, or having to organize the food and beverages. Having all the tasks associated with a exhibition, completed for us, was hugely satisfying.

Due to the fear Covid is creating, we were all masked and unable to enthusiastically hug, but we were thrilled to see the number of people attending and hear their responses to our work.

Sold several works, and as usual, could have sold the same half a dozen works, several times over. In fact I did find that four works have been sold twice and it is something I am trying to remedy. (Have established a web site, sharonleeart.com so that works can be purchased direct, and there should be no future mix-ups.) 

                                       

Glimpses inscribed

Visual Haiku

Multifarious

Moment in mind

Psychodrama in colour

Transient cyclorama

Family. As usual, I want to thank my supportive family who keep me going with their enthusiasm and support. They are wonderful. Arron and Lisa, you are darlings. We loved you being there with us and spending the week while we recouped after house fire and exhibition opening.

 Thank you Bri for flowers, they are glorious. In no way are they a substitute for you not being able to leave Sydney - in lock-down, due to Covid -  or for you not being able to make another eloquent speech - but the phone calls and bouquet were appreciated.

Friends. Nothing can ever  replace the genuine love and support you provide. Your contribution throughout my time Coddiwompling and at the opening, is noted. Your the best. Thank you.

Now to start work towards the next exhibition, BIRDS at the Brisbane Institute of Art, in 2022. 

FUN!!!!!

Somerset Regional Art Gallery

 CROSSDALE5

 Exhibition opening 

 Saturday July 24,  2021

 Five artists from Crossdale - Sharon, Shirley, Jane, Ian, Jan

Sharon Lee

With fear of climate change and the arrival of Covid-19, 2020-21 encouraged me to coddiwomple - to travel purposefully forward to an as-yet-unknown destination. En route discovering how necessary it is that we maintain hope. 

With hope in mind, I have created bright, multi-layered narratives. Each a visual haiku of the memories I yearn to keep and dearly hope persist. 

In the works on canvas I have started with a black background, and over this I have layered acrylic glazes to establish the painting, before finishing with rich lushness and viscosity of oils; the brightness signifying new beginnings and growth. The inclusion of birds represents: wisdom, adaptation, diligence, rebirth, courage and all the many attributes we will need to use to repair and maintain our ecosystem.

At the commencement of my coddiwompling story and at the end, I have placed sculptures with a serious question in mind, If nature was watching would you be kinder? A third sculpture designed as a nest, while asking the same question, does hint at the chance of new beginnings. Each piece combines the use of found objects, paper clay, acrylic and resin.

The works display my continuing appreciation for nature and her ability to re-calibrate and rejuvenate, without ignoring the undesirable aspects of: a world without; a world with too much; and a world which cannot sustain.

 

Sharon Lee

ARTIST

Growing up in Papua New Guinea, living on an isolated Island in Bougainville, and then moving to acreage in Crossdale, Queensland, I have always felt fortunate to be able to observe and interpret the kaleidoscope of colors and designs in nature. While owning an art supply shop within the Brisbane Institute of Art for more than a decade and managing an Artist retreat allowed me to observe and learn many creative, technique based processes.

In my work I combine my appreciation for a good story with the excitement I get from rearranging nature’s complex - and often ephemeral assemblages. Max Ernst (1891 – 1976) said, ‘an artist must have one eye on the outer world, while the other eye looks towards the inner world.’ It is with this in mind that I create multi-layered paintings evocative of the landscape, while inserting an irrational or troublesome idea into the imagery. However, unlike the melancholy of Ernst, I hope my works are a joyful experience, encouraging the viewer to connect with their own memories and conscience. Hopefully creating their own unique narrative.

RustRoo workshop

WOOPS! Try later . . .

GARDEN EXHIBITION July 5th - July 18 2018

Once again, thank you to my supportive family and friends for assisting with the hanging of my work and attending the exhibition opening at the Brisbane Institute of Art. Arron and Cameron measured, discussed, agreed, disagreed and finally managed to have work up in a impressively level line for viewing . . . not easy, with work which varies in size and format and sits 37mm off the wall. Brisbane Institute of Art 

Thank you also to all the delightful self declared GEEKS at The Edge, State Library of Queensland, who offered support and assistance so I could fulfil my desire to produce these laser cut works. . .  your patience in the face of my persistence was commendable. I am looking forward to taking work into metal production . . . . http://edgeqld.org.au/

Sharon Lee

GARDEN

Taxonomy of Small Joys

For me, art making is all about the process; the sharing of experiences, investigation of ideas and learning of new techniques. A quote attributed to many individuals, including Buddah, succinctly describes how I feel about working towards an exhibition -Life is a journey not a destination.

  In 2016, using GARDEN as my starting point, I became obsessed with the results of an extensive research project conducted by Mike Stevens, lecturer for landscape studies, at the University of N.S.W. Entitled The Congruent Garden: an investigation into the role of the domestic garden in satisfying fundamental human needs, it establishes that gardens satisfy nine human needs: Freedom, Identity, Creation, Understanding, Participation, Leisure, Affection, Protection and Subsistence across four existential states: Being, Having, Doing and Interacting.

  Early in this journey I knew I required a technique which would assist me in portraying these nine needs, but that it would also need to incorporate my belief that, it is not only that which we see, but also that which remains unseen, which is invaluable.

  I realised that laser cutting would help me portray this other-worldly, multi layered feature of the garden. Using my initial paintings and hand-drawn images, I attended courses in Illustrator and Coral Draw to produce the necessary vector files. Attending various induction workshops to learn how to use the laser cutting machine at The Edge, State Library of Queensland, has been a long and often frustrating, but rewarding process.

  The resulting 4mm ply laser cuts, with their solid forms and variable shadows, represent a collection of  moments, of the seen and elusive, which regularly occur in our garden. The overlay of colors using mono-printing and stencils portray the perpetual variables which create change, often in a heartbeat.

1/ FREEDOM - EXPERIENCES

oil on 4mm laser cut ply  

Because of the adventurous spirit of naturalists, the covetous cravings of entrepreneurs and relentless development through grafting, rooting, budding, mutation and hybridisation, we have a plethora of vegetable plants, fruit trees and flowers which thrive in today’s    gardens.

 2/ IDENTITY - AUTHENTICITY

oil on 4mm laser cut ply     

Science alone will never adequately explain how a garden helps us make sense of the disorientating confusion of modern society. Connecting with the elements in a garden can act as a buffer against the dread often presented by the big-picture of the world.
 

3/ CREATION - INHERITANCE               

oil on 4mm laser cut ply  

    

The purposeful introduction of foreign flora and fauna has often produced disastrous problems, and yet deliberate hybridisation has given plants a complex inheritance which can prove highly beneficial.
 

4/ UNDERSTANDING -  NURTURANCE   

oil on 4mm laser cut ply    

 

 Gardening is an exercise in optimism and often a triumph of hope over experience. Gardeners know there has to be a balance of humility and benevolence. Of course it also helps to exercise control, servitude, respect, pragmatism, and ecological conscience.

5/ PARTICIPATION - CHOICE

oil on 4mm laser cut ply     

                                               

There are numerous lasting gifts we can bequeath our children: clean air, fertile soil, serenity, knowledge, roots, and another is wings. However, there is nothing in which birds differ more from man than the way they manage to construct and yet leave the landscape as it was before.

6/LEISURE - FINDING SELF

oil on 4mm laser cut ply    

                      

Gardening is ultimately a folly which allows us to make our own mark upon the land providing delight and a place in which we may rest. The sound of birds can stop the corrosive chatter of the mind. The sun and rain cleans and heals. The inaudible  glide of the wind sooths the soul.

Sometimes I sits and think, and sometimes I just sit. - A.A. Milne

7/AFFECTION - ANTICIPATION

oil on 4mm  laser cut ply     

                                            

One of the most delightful things about the garden is the anticipation it provides. To be intimately aware that there are unseen happenings afoot. Tending the garden with parental solitude, loving what you do and feeling that it matters.

8/PROTECTION - RESPONSIBILITY

oil on 4mm laser cut ply    

Gardening imparts an organic perspective on the passage of time. Change marches on relentlessly, as time speeds past regardless. And what was is not and never again will be.

To what shall I compare this life of ours?

Even before I can say,

it is like a lightning flash or a dewdrop,

it is no more.  

-Sengai

9/ SUBSISTENCE – ACCEPTANCE

oil on 4mm  laser cut ply     

                               

Life and love are life and love, a bunch of violets is a bunch of violets and to drag in the idea of a point is to ruin everything. Live and let live. Love and let love, flower and fade and follow the natural curve which flows on, pointless. 

- D.H. Lawrence  
 

    

10/ BEING, HAVING, DOING, INTERACTING

oil on 4mm  laser cut ply  

    

The sun rises, pink and gold, momentarily highlighting a landscape  of sparkling, dew-drenched cobwebs looking like fishermen's nets crafted from stainless steel; gossamer, ethereal, and otherworldly. A grey heron arrives to gracefully stalk the ponds. I make coffee and in my moment of busyness feather and shimmer disappear as if

displeased by my inattentiveness.

                                  PROCESS  -   NEST      oil on 4mm  laser cut ply

Throughout my observations of our garden, researching and learning the new technique of laser cutting, I have realised that art, gardens and text, despite being unique dialects, when juxtaposed, echo and augment each other. Together the three speak in a hybrid language, far richer than each would be on their own. And it is through the added exploration of text that I have been able to come to terms with the complexity and saturation of imagery in every day life within a garden.

What a delight to know that works will make their way across great swathes of ocean to Houston, Texas USA and England, while those in Australia will travel to Fraser Island, Noosa, Tweed and throughout the suburbs of Brisbane. 

Another delightful exhibition . . . now onto BIRDS