Artist Statement

I have a number of painting venues in process, one line pursues the marks and symbols of early languages, often investigating the Cascajal Text that was recently discovered in Mexico and became the oldest writing found in the Americas.  Often in tandem with the language work is my interest in historical or ancient shelter forms, as a designer and builder of sculptural homes in Santa Fe for many years this interest is now just a natural part of me.

Another painting venue I call the Social Consciousness group, this is a platform where I can make comments about issues I may see on the news or read about.  I have a number of characters I have created to help tell a narrative story.  These characters were originally influenced by the historical carved masks of Central America.

My earlier work used fresco, (gypsum plaster), as a sculptural painting surface, either on paper or board, with incised lines and drawing, along with collage and sculptural surface elements .   I have slowly evolved, for practical reasons of weight, toward a synthetic venetian plaster surface that is much thinner.   This has allowed me to do a series of large paintings, 4’x4’, that are about the Cascajal Text used in what I feel is a landscape arrangement.  I will still use the gypsum on smaller work as it does things that synthetics can not.

My sculpture is often an outreach from the paintings, using the characters and forms in a 3-D relationship, sometimes a story to tell, sometimes just for fun.       

I often seek out the architecture of objects that exist, in a subtle way, just below the surface of normal reality.  The exploration of everyday objects as living things imbued with an energy of their own holds a fascination for me.  There is also a narrative theme and a historical connection between man and myth that interests me.  I study the symbolic forms this relationship has produced, whereas the unknown is brought into a relation with the “known”.

Michael Sharber