Meet Sharon Carlisle

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharon Carlisle.

Sharon, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
One of my earliest memories is of making stuff out of mud. Finding puddles after rainstorms, sitting down and digging in. I loved feeling the mud between my fingers. And I still do! Fast forward from that mud puddle to today and I am an artist working in multi-media sculptural installation and performance. For those who may be unfamiliar, a core definition of installation is the creation of a work that one walks into rather than up to.

My installations may be made out of a single material, such as my beloved mud or expanded into multi-media creations that include painting, sculpture, found object, surfacing and sound. I may create within a particular style, such as pop art, or utilize a particular process such as skinning; applying one material over another. It depends on what ideas I am exploring and what experiences I wish to offer the viewer/participant.

Currently, my work is based in a broad exploration of energy in all its forms including subjects as diverse as oil and gas development, the functions of our pineal glands, and concepts about evolution. I organize the varying and ever-expanding topics into series of works; my own mental filing cabinet that is easy to sort through and access.

“My Manhattan Project” series, as it stands now, consists of three installations exploring our atomic history. Work on this series sparked other work with connected themes, including an installation inspired by two sentences I read while conducting research on the topic. and a separate series, “Mushroom/Clouds” – a growing collection of paintings and sculptures that I may or may not include in a future installation.

The “World Wide Water Project”, a continuing series, was generated by an act I performed for inclusion in another installation called “Tended Primitive Emergence”. I soaked sheets of brown wrapping paper in the Cache la Poudre river while blessing the water, then bound them into a book so that visitors to the installation could share their thoughts and feelings about water.

Intrigued by the response, I began asking others to perform the same act of soaking the paper while blessing the water. Then to return their soaked paper to me along with information about when and where they soaked it, and what they would like to share about the experience through photos, video, stories, poem…

The sheets I am collecting will be bound into books that I will eventually exhibit, along with the images and experiences shared with me. To date people have sent me paper from various sites, including the US, Great Britain, Sweden and Jordan. It’s been exciting to receive paper from sources of water as varied as collection by a dehumidifier in a damp basement, a snow drift and sea mist wafting in off of the Antarctic Ocean. Anyone reading this who may be interested in participating in the “World Wide Water Project” can email me at the address provided and I will contact you with details on how to do so.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Life is challenge, no? Smooth roads combine with ruts, bumps, wrong turns… However, all contribute to the constant opening of possibility. All contribute to who one is today. Being able to adapt is key to both life and making art. And resilience, key to keeping the possibilities open. My wrestling with the ideas of evolution in my artwork reflects how my own journey continues to evolve. I am so grateful. The work reflects the strength, skill and knowledge I have built over the years in response to struggles and challenges. Making art is everything to me. It is constant curiosity. It is my way of communicating with others. It is introspection and expression It is who I am as well as what I do. Without it I would be extremely unhappy. For me Ideas of success or failure aren’t tied to how many sales I make, or even who likes the work. Those concerns pop up when I begin to lose sight of the real reason for my being here; make the art and share it. What happens after that can be frustrating or disappointing. But it can also be mysterious and surprising.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
My business is creating installation and performance work; two art mediums that are nearly impossible to commodify. Thus, finding ways to build my professional career has been a challenge. I’m certainly not the first professional artist faced with this challenge and most certainly won’t be the last. However, there are many people who define a professional artist simply as one who makes their living from selling their art. I don’t.

I make art. That is what I do. The symbiotic relationship that I am a part of, the one between muse, material and the artist, imbues the work created with life energy. Then, when shared through exhibition, private viewing, digitally, whatever form the sharing takes, a communion with those who come into contact with it becomes possible. That’s the value. Sometimes, a person may purchase the work and take it home with them. When that happens its very satisfying for me, but it is not what motivates me, describes me as successful, or defines me as a professional.

I am known for making work using mundane materials, such as the mud I began this interview with. I dig it up, clean it, mix it with water and use it to form objects and create surfaces. I am also known for making work called textural sculpture; held in the palm of one’s hand, eliciting a visceral response to weight, form, surface and scale. And I am known for making work that requires a process, deeply consider, of matching material to intent.

What sets me apart from others is what making strong, successful art requires from anyone creating it. The touch of an individual that is identifiable. Ones work may be replicable by others, but it originates in a unique symbiotic relationship that requires my individual history: my skill, talent, intent, education, desire… It requires me.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was curious, excited, bossy, stubborn, loud and constantly hungry. Always interested in the visual, and the visceral, I searched out color, form and experience wherever I could find it, without an understanding of the why.

When I was seven years old our family moved from my small hometown in Pennsylvania to Phoenix Arizona. My sister, dad and I drove out on the famous route 66. The further west we went, the more I marveled at what was before my eyes. Horizons opened, colors intensified, even the neon glowing from Texas diner signs filled me with wonder. My love affair with the western landscape had begun.

After many delays and detours I returned to the west, all the way west, to the coastline of Santa Barbara CA. My learning disabilities, combined with some childhood traumas, had left me with a belief that I was stupid, a belief that I had to overcome in order to go forward. Santa Barbara City College is where I discovered that I really rocked learning and learning really rocked me. After two great years at SBCC I transferred to UCSB (University of Santa Barbara) and completed my BA, graduating summa cum laude and with distinction in my major. I was the first college graduate in my family. I then married, moved to Colorado, had a baby, divorced, and all the while continued to make art when I could and where I could.

Contact Info:

• Address: Artworks Center for Contemporary Art. 310 Railroad Avenue, Loveland, CO 80537 Studio #121
• Website: website: carlisleartstudio.com
• Email: Email: carlisle.studio@mail.com
• Instagram: Instagram: carlisle.studioshunyata

Image Credit:
Robin Snyder
Kerri Sewolt
Steven Maas

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