Sharon Lee Hart
Artist Statement
My evolving body of work questions male and female cultural identities, interactions between humans and other animals, surveillance and the act of looking, stereotypes and mass media representations, and linguistic habits. I utilize darkly humorous imagery that provokes us to confront critical social and political issues in our society. Advertisements and the handmade mark, manipulation and deconstruction, beauty and deformity, psychology, and symbolism are all part of the language of my work.
The deep black color that veils the pieces, beautifies and obscures. In this series, black represents the absence of daylight and the shadows that temporarily cover and conceal, just as the content of the work brings up issues that are often uncomfortable, sugar coated, or accepted as the status quo. My pieces re-contextualize and juxtapose segments chosen from my own photographs with found images cut from recycled magazines. Many of the pieces reference the process and aesthetic quality of x-rays. In the darkroom I shine light on and through images, making the internal structure visible. I manipulate the images through the use of photomontage, darkroom, and digital processes. Then, reintroducing my hand, I rework the prints with traditional materials in order to bring a more complex, layered depth both conceptually and formally to the work.
Bio
Sharon Lee Hart was born in the month of April in Washington, D.C. and is a true Taurus. She recently relocated form Chapel Hill, NC to Nashville, TN to teach photography at two area colleges. Sharon Lee received her BFA from Maine College of Art and her MFA from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has taught at UNC Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University, and The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.
Her current body of mixed media works questions male and female cultural identities, interactions between humans and other animals, surveillance, and the act of looking. The consummate craftsperson, Hart is known for sensuous, high-quality papers, deep-toned, velvety blacks, and a wry commentary on contemporary gender hierarchies and inequities. She has shown her work in exhibitions throughout the country.
Exhibitions
2009 Stop, Look, Listen, Tinney Contemporary, Nashville, Tennessee
2008 Why is a raven like a writing desk? (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Flanders Art Gallery, Raleigh, NC
2008 Hootenanny Faculty Exhibition, Brownlee O. Currey, Jr. Gallery at Watkins College of Art, Nashville
2008 She Said, Durham Arts Place Gallery, Durham, North Carolina
2008 Featured Member Artist, Women's Caucus for Art, online exhibition
2007 Reveal, Flanders Art Gallery at 311, Raleigh, North Carolina
2007 The 13th Annual International Women's Exhibition, Soho20, Chelsea, New York, New York
2007 Galeria Galou Exhibition, ARWI, International Art Fair, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2007 The Kinsey Institute's Juried Art Show, The Kinsey Institute Gallery, Bloomington, IN
2007 49th International Award Exhibition, San Diego Art Institute, Museum of the Living Artist, San Diego, CA
2007 Krappy Kamera IX Exhibition, Soho Photo, New York, New York
2006 Photography Now, South Shore Arts Center, Cohasset, MA
2006 Recollect, Alcott Gallery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2006 Oculomotor, Alcott Gallery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2005 Smithsonian Magazine: Through Our Readers Eyes (one of 50 photographs selected out of
30, 000), National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.
2004 Merged Realities-Solo Exhibition, Radiant Light Gallery, Portland, ME
Collections and Archives Fine Arts Collection, Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN Awards
2009 Artist Residency and Scholarship, Ox-Bow, Saugatuck, MI
2008 The Carter Foundation Scholarship, Maine Media Workshops, Rockport Maine
2007 Graduate Teaching Fellowship, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2007 Travel Award, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2007 Opportunity Fund Award from the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2006 Graduate Teaching Fellowship, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2004 MECA Talent Scholarship Award, Maine College of Art, Portland, Maine
2004 Irving B. Ellis and Judy Ellis Glickman Endowed Scholarship Award, Maine College of Art
Professional Experience
+ mp;nbsp;Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art, Watkins College of Art, Design & Film, August 2008-present
+ Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art, Lipscomb University, August 2008-present
+ Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art, Wake Forest University, August 2007-May 2008
+ Teacher-Digital Art, Durham Arts Council, Durham, NC, Summer 2008
+ Instructor, The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, February 2008-June 2008
+ Instructor-Photo Based Mixed Media, Carrboro Arts Center, January 2008-March 2008
+ Visiting Lecturer-Photography, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, June 2007-August 2007
+ Instructor-Photography, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, August 2006-May 2007
Select Publications
The Sun Magazine, Issue 366, June 2006
Washington City Paper, Inside Back Page, September 24, 2004
Best of College Photography Annual, 2004
Shots Magazine, Issue 83, March 2004
Pinhole Journal, Issue 3, Volume 18, January 2003
Best of College Photography, 2002
Best of Photography Annual, 2002
Maine Women's Fund, brochure cover, 2002
Wemoon Datebook, December 2001
Olympia Literary and Art Magazine, Issue 1, January 1997
The Sun Magazine, Issue 258, June 1997
For Truly to See Your Face by Lynne Hume Burgess, book cover photograph, copyright 1996
Shots Magazine, Issue 50, December 1995