PHOTOGRAPHS: Sharon Green

© sharon green

Drawing on feminist and historical ideology,Green is interested in the construction of the female identity in the context of the fallen woman. Through evocative architectural and interior spaces, dramatic still life tableaux and representations of the female figure itself,she examines these ideas visually. Surface quality, texture and detail operate as metaphors and glimpse a personal parallel of the relationships between women and the societies they inhabit.
Historical European architecture and the opulence of the Baroque era provide a rich context for the development of her female characters. historically, women have been both decorator and decoration. Green investigates the relationship between decoration and the female sexuality.
Marks, cracks and other traces of inhabitance and the "past" all suggest an absent presence. These traces accumulated over time form a "memory" within the space. During the Baroque period, the church played a dominant role in the social construction of female sexuality. Primarily, women were either married or sent to convents. Baroque architecture evident in the convents of the time provide metaphors for the notion of spiritual and physical chastity. Purity and self sacrifice, grilles and archways. Green is interested to explore these architectural details as metaphors for the seen and unseen, the public and the private, the church and the individual.
Narratives in her work portray her interpretation of the history of the Baroque period. The use of narrative allows the viewer to imagine being part of the story or encourages the viewer to feel the restriction of the female body and the psyche prevalent in that period.

back to umbrella program page......