about
Artist Statement: I am a fiber installation artist whose artwork involves using fiber to wrap objects. My practice involves two aspect of classified examination. One, a studio practice where I personally engage with wrapping in accordance with my personal aesthetics. Two, a social practice which activates workshops where participants gather in communal and social spaces that access touch, taste, sound and smell to share in the common goal of generating forms for relationally aesthetic installations.
My hope is to break down divisions and barriers between people of different age groups and backgrounds – using the practice of wrapping as a shared activity and goal. The resulting forms and outcomes from each of my investigations evolve into a site specific presentation.
Biography: Sharon Thieman has known herself as an artist since the age of four. This instinct to create, as evidenced in childhood, was nurtured by her parents and further developed in Art School. A pivotal point in her career came when she was introduced to temari, an ancient Japanese craft which involves wrapping may layers of yarn and thread around a sphere form to create sophisticated geometrical patterns. She taught herself how to make temari and subsequently began to develop artwork which would exude some of the principles she discovered in the creation of it.
As part of her professional career in the arts, she pursued an M.A. in Asian Studies, (2013) which focused on Japanese Language and Culture at Florida International University, (2013). Later, she received her M.F.A. (2018) in Visual Arts at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida.
Most currently, Sharon is part time adjunct Professor at FAU, as well as a professional artist. She has recently worked with eLearning to develop one of the courses she teaches, "Art Appreciation," into an online offering. At the same time, she continues develop her artwork, which involves the interdisciplinary field of somaesthetics and social practice.
“I have drawn things since I was six. All that I made before the age of sixty-five is not worth counting. At seventy-three I began to understand the true construction of animals, plants, trees, birds, fishes, and insects. At ninety I will enter into the secret of things. At a hundred and ten, everything--every dot, every dash--will live”
― Hokusai Katsushika
BIOGRAPHY
Sharon Thieman has known herself as an artist since the age of four. This natural instinct to create, as evidenced in childhood, was nurtured by her parents and further developed in Art School. A pivotal point in her career came when she was introduced to the ancient Japanese craft of Temari.
After a twenty-year professional career in the arts, she pursued and received an MA in Asian studies with a concentration on Japanese Language and Culture from Florida International University in Miami, Florida. Her subsequent studies in Japan solidified her interest in Japanese aesthetics and sparked her longing to make art again. She received her MFA (2018) in Visual Arts at Florida Atlantic University, in Boca Raton, Florida, Her graduate thesis, Power of Wrapping, is a social art project which culminated into large installation artwork embodied by Japanese aesthetic and the process of wrapping for emotional healing.
Sharon is currently an adjunct Professor at FAU. Here she is working with Project Design to develop her favorite course to teach, Art Appreciation for eLearning.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a fiber installation artist whose art practice revolves around using fiber to wrap objects. Wrapping is a very natural movement for me, like reaching for a flower. To me it is meditative and healing. While I am drawn to all things Japanese, I create art that translates a traditional craft, Temari, imbued with Japanese aesthetics into contemporary form. I am expanding this visual vocabulary to modern day relevance, through an investigation of Somaesthetics, a philosophy which embraces experiencing life with the body for self-cultivation. My aim is to present ways in which viewers can participate with the art as they interact with their bodies to experience various human realities, such as playful wonder, frustration and spirituality.