Talks & Discourse
I deliver many talks and discourses in relation to my practice, sharing my research, artistic approaches and my knowledge of diagnostic methods through my extensive lecturing experience in the fields of art & design.
Please contact me should you be interested in those offered or something more tailored to your own interests.
info@sharonkearley.com / 07746 084 970
Connecting Threads
In this talk Sharon shares her research design journey where her work focused upon ‘The Great Stones Way’ and the three Neolithic Sites of Avebury, Woodhenge and Old Sarum to produce “Connecting Threads.’ Her work took her from the archives and maps of Devizes Museum to site specific explorations, books and final mixed media artworks. Of the work she says,
“A line is not always visible or straight, but twists and curves, connects and interconnects. How this line can be manipulated through the application of movement and materials within woven textiles is central to the practice.
This body of work draws on the ephemeral qualities of trace and fluidity in relation to linear connections within the landscape. The line is a 'connector' of place, exploring streams of hidden energy that seemingly flow beneath the surface linking three specific Neolithic Sites.
Through series, scale and multiples, communicated through stitch and weave processes, drawing on documentation tools of photography, books and maps, the line Is connected through 'nodal points.' The intention is to conceal and reveal the hidden line, manipulating its' direction through woven structure or stitch. “
Harmonious Diagonal
This body of work was born out of research into Kandinsky and his theories in “Point to Line to Plane”. Where Sharon explored the idea of line and it’s travel through a compositional space, investigating areas of scale, multiples and the perception of repeat pattern
She talks about her working practice within the field of mixed media weave, sharing her design journey, her various processes across print, stitch, dyeing and weave, which remains the core foundation for her work. A playful and innovative perception of weave that pushes at the boundaries, drawing on ephemeral, spatial qualities and narrative concerned with aesthetics and concept to produce artworks for installation and exhibition.
Sharons work is based upon Bauhaus theory, she teaches part time on a Foundation Course at Wiltshire College, Trowbridge and discusses how this diagnostic approach has fed into her own style of working and her resulting private classes based around learning how to design for weave and textiles.
In this talk, she shares with you visual examples of her work and the many areas of weave that she touched upon, woven shibori, multiple warps, collapse weave, alongside stitch and dye processes and how it has led to the 3D weave pieces she is creating today.
Untrodden Path
Sharon’s work sits firmly across many intersections between print, weave and stitch, the fields of fine art and textiles. She actively pushes boundaries, challenges her working practice both through research, making and exhibition. In this talk she discusses the barriers she has faced in her working practice and how her work is perceived, touching upon site specific outcomes and how where her work is hung, has a direct impact on how she makes alongside the materials she uses. Her personal struggles of finding the right ‘fit’ for her work or indeed why she even makes the work she does. She reflects upon her previous working practice with placing work on the land, sharing images and making processes of previous site specific exhibitions and how sustainable methods are informing her current working approaches and her plans for the future drawing on flax, and collaboration with others.
In this talk, she shares with you visual examples of her work for you to touch and invites you to consider your own opinions and views of textiles and how it is perceived.
From Weave to Costume and back again!
In this talk Sharon shares her journey from Chelsea School of Art in the 1990’s through to working in Costume in the West End with such production companies as Matthew Bourne’s Adventures in Motion Pictures to running the wardrobe department on the Big Breakfast. Her ten years in Northern Spain and then back to the UK in 2009 and how her work has developed over the last few years since her MA in 2019 at UCA in Farnham. She talks about her practice now and her plans in motion for the future. This talk is a whistle stop tour of weave to costume and back again!