Sharon Gibson– drawings
June 14 – July 19
Sacred Grounds Cafe
233 N. Main St., Edwardsville, IL.
hours 7 a.m. - 11 p.m. daily
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Artist's Statement
My drawings and paintings have always been figurative, there has always been an interest in drawing those with whom I experience life. I have always been interested in creating portraits, visual representations of people that show what they appear to be, and I still create portraits. However, sometimes I feel as though there is a pull towards a certain emotion, or question as to how the body or mind of a certain person works. Medical science has proven much to how the body works, through anatomy, psychology, and chemistry the body has been analyzed scientifically. I find that this information has helped me understand the body and mind, I feel an emotional pull as well to people. I find an influence and a passion towards early anatomical art from the Middle Ages, where atoms, elements, physics, and even cells were not known or how our body relies on electricity to keep our heart and brain working. Some of my favorite works were how medical physicians used “rooms” to divide the body, and created ivory sculptures to show how the body was a house. Sometimes if a person was ill, they would show how it was a demon inside them, or fire, or other images. I feel as though using archetypal images to show an illness creates the mix of rational and emotion, a mix of what is in our mind already. Scientific illustration shows diseases or illnesses visually, but I rely on these archetypal images to create a release that is more emotional than rational.
Self-Autopsy, was a “beta” test to say the least, starting from a gestural skeleton to organs, to muscle, to skin. It was one of the final projects in my BFA exhibition and it was the starting point of these projects. It was a study on the anatomy and trying to render see-through bodies.
In Mast Cells, the portrait explains how the person reacts visually from allergies, swelling, squinting, discomfort in the face, but also the anatomy of how the pollen enters the body and how the body react to the invasion and creates the histamine reaction that creates the allergy symptoms.
In Explanation, this is an illustration as to how the body is a battle field, although in this image the body is attacked outwardly, the body itself is attacked from the inside by Multiple Sclerosis. The immune system that protects a person from viruses instead attacks the cells that protect the myelin sheaths throughout the nerves, spinal cord, and brain. One of the first symptoms my aunt felt was a mix of numbness and stinging pain in her feet and legs. In the drawing, I used an idea of early cartography maps about nautical invasions, using the sea creatures to attack the nerves themselves.
Biography
Sharon Gibson grew up in the St. Louis area and received her B.F.A. in Painting at Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville. At the age of 15 she was chosen to spend a full summer at the Kansas City Art Institute to study the human figure. Her work still consists of figurative work in painting, drawing, and she has always been inspired to draw illustration and write books for all ages to enjoy. She currently teaches art, writes, illustrates, and does commission work.
310 Hillsboro St., Edwardsville IL 62025 • 618.655.0337 • edwartscenter@att.net