SHARI ELISE
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Shari is a 28year-old Australian artist with a Vanuatuan mother and Australian father who depicts the black woman through her Pop Art inspired illustrations.
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Being a product of an interracial marriage, Shari admits to being mistaken for being predominantly a white woman, hence her curiosity and exploration of her mothers' Vanuatuan heritage.
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With paintings, such as her abstract painting, entitled 'Fire Zone', she explores techniques such as expressionism, abstraction and her use of colour references to the Fauvist movement.
This movement disregards any rules when it comes to colour and art, the sky may well be red and the grass blue --
"Painting is good for me because it lets me explore and challenge different uses of colour."
"Painting is good for me because it lets me explore and challenge different uses of colour."
But unlike most creatives, the pressure to be different is not a predominant factor in her line of work, but rather finding her preferred style and sticking with it is more of the challenge.
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Here, 28-year-old Shari opens up about her work, inspirations and art movements that have inspired and impacted her work.
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WHO IS SHARI ELISE?
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I am a Brisbane based artist, currently working around the powerful black woman. My art practice delves into painting and jewellery. I studied a Bachelor in Design, majoring in Visual Communications at the Queensland College of Art.
Once I graduated, I left Australia to live and work in Berlin. After a year, I returned to Australia to give birth to my first baby -- this has been my biggest project so far.
AS AN ARTIST, DO YOU FEEL ANY PRESSURE TO CREATE SOMETHING ENTIRELY NEW?
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Nothing is entirely new; most things are influenced. However, maintaining a style that is consistent and true to myself is probably the most pressure.
WOULD YOU SAY BEING AN ARTIST ALLOWS YOU TO PICK UP ON LITTLE DETAILS MOST PEOPLE WOULDN'T?
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Visually, Yes. I'd say time and experience trains the eye to pick up on things -- it can be both positive and negative.
Positive because it helps me to be happy with a piece and when it comes to the negative, it means I am never happy with a piece (if that makes sense).
WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED MEDIUM?
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I love working with paint, however, my illustrative pieces have been more effective with colour, which is really important to me.
YOUR ILLUSTRATIONS EXUDE SIMPLICITY YET HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY. A LOT OF YOUR SUBJECTS IN YOUR ILLUSTRATIONS ARE THE BLACK FEMALE. TALK TO US ABOUT YOUR ILLUSTRATIONS, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY, WHAT INSPIRES AND DRIVES YOU TO CREATE THEM?
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Colour has always been the main function in my work. Painting is good for me because it lets me explore and challenge different uses of colour. I then like to put that colour into context by using bold objects, e.g. My vase works. The places created are usually based on real places I've been to during my travels. However, I always try to minimise detail and accentuate the shapes and colours. My ladies are a reflection of my mother who is from Vanuatuan. However, they are not necessarily from Vanuatuan.
"I LOVE IMPRESSIONISM -- MONET IS ONE OF THE MORE BEAUTIFUL PAINTERS I'VE BECOME FOND OF.
THERE IS JUST SOMETHING ROMANTIC ABOUT HIS WORKS, THEY REALLY SPEAK TO ME."
-- SHARI ELISE
WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THE BLACK WOMAN IN TODAY'S SOCIETY?
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I think there are still problems with equality and respect however this is not something I experience first-hand as people assume I'm white. Everything I know about this, is through my mother and sister. However it still something I am conscious of
"I ALSO REALLY LOVE ABSTRACTION OF SPACE/LANDSCAPE. SALLY GABORI IS AN INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN ARTIST I LOOK TO FOR COLOUR INSPIRATION. SHE USES COLOUR IN A RUTHLESS AND VIBRANT WAY."
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-- SHARI ELISE
WHAT GENRE OR STYLE WOULD YOU PUT YOUR WORK INTO?
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I feel it could talk to the fashion industry and still talk to the art world.
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I would describe my paintings as the 'Abstraction of landscape' and as for my illustrations, they are Pop art with references to Fauvism and Cubism.