The Cultural Center of Wyoming
Sharon Merschat: Backcountry
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Art is and has always been central to Sharon Merschat’s life. Sharon’s grandmother introduced her to clay and paint at an early age and took her to the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh on weekends where they gazed at all the art, especially the Modern pieces. Today her approach to creating is what it was back then: making marks, brushing areas with colors, and playing with the textures of collage. This spontaneous beginning morphs into carving out images by adding or subtracting to the surface to see what is born.
Sharon received her BFA from Ohio University with an emphasis in sculpture and enough credentials to be certified to teach.
Besides creating art Sharon has also been an art educator working with students of all ages.
In 1989 Sharon was honored as a Marie Welsh scholar for artists/educators and participated in an artist-in-residence program at Colorado College. Later that year she received Signature status from the National Watercolor Society.
Currently, Sharon is working with paint, collage, clay, and found object assemblage.
FROM THE ARTIST
“Backcountry is an installation of eight columns with a series of canvases serving as a backdrop. The imagery depicts real and imagined flora and fauna, sometimes in a whimsical way and sometimes in a threatening one. I love nature, work outdoors and feature the environment in my mixed media pieces.
Today’s environmental threats concern me and that tension and dilemma surfaces in my work.
I hope you enjoy viewing ‘Backcountry’ and can draw conclusions of your own.”