Rebecca Sharp (b. 1976) is an artist and musician by way of Brazil, whose intimate works “quietly update Surrealism,” as noted by Roberta Smith in her New York Times article covering the 2022 Frieze NY edition. Formerly known for her energetic, large-scale oil paintings, Sharp recently discovered a new visual language when shifting to small-scale canvases. This dramatic switch resulted in delicately constructed surreal compositions inspired by her internal voyages and decades of meditation practice. The artist shrouds such narratives in an unseen world, like her ongoing meditation practice, transforming her adept craftsmanship into the metaphysical realm. These compositions present bold yet delicate visualizations of multiple planes of existence, filled with symbolist imagery and cosmic connotations.
Perhaps the most important reoccurring symbol found in Sharp’s works is a multicolored pole, found balancing against a wall in the painting “Time Makes Reality Stick.” For the artist, the pole represents an antenna that connects Earth to the cosmos- the power and pathway to something beyond the human mind. These paintings, as if tiny portals, transform the everyday world and the objects within them so that we may see a place inaccessible without her guidance.
Sharp gained a BA in Drama and Theatre at Goldsmith’s College, London, and an MA in Buddhist Philosophy at Sunderland University, UK. She has trained extensively in Teatro Oficina in Brazil and Comedia Dell’Arte with John Rudlin in Centre Sélavy, France. She has been awarded residencies at the California Institute of the Arts (2019) and Grace Studios (2016), as well as an upcoming residency at Anderson Ranch in Aspen, Colorado (2023). As a musician, she released and toured the album Hello Again for the First Time in Brazil. Her work has been exhibited publicly at the 33rd Bienal in Sao Paulo, Afinidades, curated by Sofia Borges (2018), and in the 2nd Biennial of the End of the World in Ushuaia, Argentina (2009).
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