Claire Sherman

Claire Sherman is an American painter currently living and working in New York City. I first learned about her work in a recent Landscapes class with Fran O’Neill. I admired the use of color and form as each brush stroke popped and slid me around the composition. She is a direct painter who, like Sargent, will redo a brush stroke over and over, until it gives the appearance that it was done with ease.

In NY Art Beat, curator Melissa Messina describes Sherman’s paintings as “vast entanglements, synthesized mixes of plant life and geographical phenomena that in their detail maintain a sense of specificity but in combination intentionally do not scribe an exact location. They are every place at once or no place at all.”

Sherman’s work was inspired by environmental author Elizabeth Kolbert who described the consequences of global travel as a “reshuffling of the biosphere that is bringing all of the worlds flora and fauna together.” In her paintings, Sherman explores climate change and the effects of invasive species as they crowd out natives. The cycle of invasion, chaos, and growth are seen within Sherman’s tangled forms. This beautiful yet ominous new world is central to Sherman’s work. (NY Art Beat)

I’ve been thinking about pathways and directionals lately. Sherman’s work is loaded with them! Notice how she directs our gaze up, down, in and around the canvas. Notice too the speed of our travel. Some of her works move quickly and smoothly like highways (Vines). Others dart me around like a pinball (Tree at Night) or give me one quick shove up and over (Tree). As you look at these, please do also look at the size of each – many are quite large, so these compositional moves must be quite dramatic when viewed in person.

Woodblocks

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Artist’s website: https://www.clairesherman.com/

http://www.gorkysgranddaughter.com/2014/03/claire-sherman-feb-2014.html