Sharon Healy
Sharon Healy believes that myths and archetypes convey universal messages about what it means to be human. She sees symbols and icons as ubiquitous tools to transcend the limitations of words. Jazmin Montano of Jazmin Arts once said that: “Healy’s work will transport you into the hallucinogenic dreamworld of your archetypal subconscious [sic].” Using the power of cultural iconography and the materials of her craft, Healy weaves in the power of mythology to encapsulate the human experience in art. Healy received her BFA from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in 2007 and actively participates in the Denver art scene. Her work is regularly on display at galleries in the Santa Fe Art District and the RiNo Art District, and also seen nationally, recently in the Baton Rouge Gallery Center for Contemporary Art’s Surreal Salon Six Show. She has contributed various pieces of art to local charities like Progressive Veterans, Dream Project, Yoga Rocks the Park, and many more. Her work has been in multiple publications including “Vain Magazine,” “Contango Magazine,” “303 Magazine,” and featured on the cover of the book, God Heavy. In December of 2011, when Healy had a painting stolen from a local gallery by a criminal admirer, the community helped her track down the thief and return the painting back to her collection.
Healy combines a variety of traditional painting techniques in a nontraditional way; many of her pieces use a black-and-white acrylic under-painting and an oil over-painting. By engaging with a broad palette of cultural symbolism, she revives myths in a contemporary context. Particularly, Healy evokes the female figures of our collective unconscious to return the human image to the world of art. Healy‘s work vividly depicts overlapping incarnations of myths and their presences in our everyday lives. As Jazmin Montano put it, “To be near Sharon’s work is to be tapped into the universal messages of life and humanity.” She is continually experimenting with new ways of painting, and is inspired by artists such as Alex Grey, Clyfford Still, Audrey Kawasaki, Francis Bacon, Marina Abramovic, Jenny Saville, Mark Rothko and Chiara Bautista
” I see art as the leader in cultural movements and the remaining traces of past civilizations. It is the most powerful tool we have to understand and communicate the quotidian occurrences of life and the monumental experiences that shape the very core of us as humans. Art offers a medium to converse with the future and the past, and my art comes from my desire to understand the ancient stories that I see embodied in the world around me. The archetypes of myths, from the story of Odysseus to the dance of Shiva, are alive and present from the moment you wake up in the morning to the moment you kiss your loved one goodnight. I want to bridge the gap that our culture has made between symbols and what they communicate about universal questions of existence. I believe that symbols of the past magnify our connectedness and our desires to transcend and evolve. If we can explore the power of symbols and stories through art we can synthesize cultures and see that we are all participating in much larger patterns of creation. I want to place the viewer of my art on the seams of these universal patterns so that they feel the power of archetypes resonating within. I want my paintings to stand as a mirror reflecting to the audience the truest and most captivating parts of themselves, so that he/she feels the awe of co-creating the future.” Sharon Healy
