"A successful painting for me has something magical or spiritual about it." Sharon Sayegh
How does your work interact with the theme of “A Generous Kingdom V: Art that Explores Story, Symbolism, and Beyond”? The title for the show captured my imagination from the start. A Generous Kingdom speaks to my passion for the natural world and its generosity bringing forth the fruits of life. My artwork involves narrative, symbolism, allegory and I hope a little magic beyond that. My painting ‘Cohabitation’ is about our relationship with the natural world. Through symbolism and allegory I tell the story of living alongside our wildlife neighbors sharing our habitat with them. I had the unfortunate accident of hitting a deer and proceeded to explore human relationships with our animal neighbors through this and several other paintings.
Does the idea of transformation influence your work and process? Transformation always enters my work in the process of putting paint down. A successful painting for me has something magical or spiritual about it. A painting goes from abstract globs of paint to specific symbols and realistic objects that tell a story. From there I hope this transformation includes a spiritual aspect or feeling to my work.
What draws you to the medium you chose? And tell us a little about your process (I don’t believe in giving it all away). I have always loved oil paints and their versatility. My process usually begins with a concept, story or idea. From there I work out a composition. I flesh out my ideas either on paper or in photoshop, gather my source material and then proceed to transfer it to the canvas. Inspiration comes from all sources which makes my subjects hard to categorize as they move freely from content to content.
What are the strengths of the medium? What are the challenges? Oil paint is a very versatile medium. I feel I have only begun to explore how to manipulate the paint and strokes. It is never boring and always a mystery to me to be solved. I am constantly learning about my medium and what it can do. The strengths are also the challenges of this medium.