sharon cutts
I grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, and began painting intensively at the age of 13 using my mother's oils. I attended the University of Wisconsin - Madison, earning a BA in Art History with a concentration in studio ceramics.
After university I returned for a few years to Racine where I was a ceramics instructor at Wustum Museum before I moved to Chicago. There I switched to painting, exhibiting at various galleries in the Midwest. In 2006, I moved to Rhode Island where I continued to paint while expanding my work to include sculpture and metal work. In 2010, I was an Adjunct Instructor working with Professor Julia Strandberg, Brown University, in the production of Childish Things, combining dance, sculpture and painting. Today, I continue my work at my studio in Pawtucket, RI.
artist statement
My work cycles from one set of materials and forms to another, and a desire to solve new technical and style challenges is a driving force. With each painting, problem-solving keeps me captivated by the process as the art pulls me forward.
Some of my techniques have involved shooting yards and yards of painted canvas with a 12-gauge shotgun and using pieces of that canvas as if they were each a brush stroke. I’ve also hardened canvas to make it a structural element and at other times I’ve left the rectangle behind to make my paintings cutouts.
My most recent work is canvas mosaic, a time-consuming process that I have combined with another recent technique, bending wood into an undulating surface. These sculptural pieces with the ups and downs of the curving wood add shadow and depth to the mosaics.
My exploration of new approaches never stops, and no matter where this exploration leads, making art is something I am driven to do. Even writing these words is uncomfortable. Art is doing and I'd much rather be doing it than writing about it.