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1. c.v. 13, 2008, ink and gesso on paper, 23" x 29"
2. c.v. 8, 2008, ink on paper, 23" x 29"
3. understanding device, 2008, acrylic and gesso on paper, 14" x 20"
4. plan, 2008, ink on paper, 12" x 16"

5. The Tristero, 2009, ink and gouache on paper, 12" x 18"
6. The Tristero, detail
7. The Tristero (2), 2009, ink and gouache on paper, 9" x 12"

8. New Jersey mountain (I), 2009, ink and gouache on paper, 9" x 12"
9. New Jersey mountain (night), 2009, ink and gouache on paper,
    10" x 14"
10. New Jersey mountain (II), 2009, ink on paper, 23" x 29"
11. New Jersey mountain (II), detail
12. New Jersey mountain (VII), 2009, ink and gouache on paper, 9" x 12"
13. New Jersey mountain (IX), 2009, gouache and gesso on paper,
    9" x 12"
14. New Jersey mountain (X), 2009, ink and gouache on paper, 12" x 18"
15. New Jersey mountain (XIII), 2009, gouache and gesso on panel,
     9" x 12"

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Contact Information
Crane Arts Building
1400 N. American Street, #409
Philadelphia, PA 19122
e-mail: sharkah@mac.com
Please contact artist for purchases, commissions, etc.

Artist Statement
In my current work I explore the psychology of space. I am intrigued by the emotional dimension of places where we live: how our designed environments—rooms, rooftops, towns, land divisions—tell stories about us.

I grew up in Czechoslovakia. When I first arrived in the U.S., my strongest initial impression (my actual “cultural shock”) was the American attitude toward space; space as something raw, waiting to be articulated. Only then did I realize that European space—and Central-European space in particular—is a palimpsest. Every new claim is written on top of previous narratives. Even the attempts to ignore, or to erase (during the Communist era, the time of my childhood) cannot but add another layer to the story. Such accumulation of histories provides for a sense of a richness; yet one in which past woes remain discernible.

American space still amazes me. Perhaps because of its scale, people inscribe their lives in more open, larger gestures. Looking at the satellite images, European places seem to me written in stone, in layers of Roman capitals. I interpret American space as pages of tentative proposals. Some are more assertive, while others resemble doodles and sketches, often crossed-out and redrawn nearby.

I draw spaces from memory. Without documentation, and without initial design. I treat perspective and color in a similar way. Sometimes things don’t make sense. I want to leave room for interpretations, both alternative and cumulative ones.

I am intrigued by alternative methods of perspectival rendering, and I am attempting to integrate them in a single painting, layering and intersecting seemingly rational spaces with obviously artificial ones.

Education
1988
Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT
MFA, Graphic Design

1992
Ecole du Louvre, Paris, France
Art History

1983
Albert-Ludwig University, Freiburg, Germany
Linguistics, Comparative Literature

1974
Professional School for the Arts, Prague, Czechoslovakia

Residencies
2007
“Imaginary Places” Visual Arts Residency, The Banff Centre, Banff, Canada

2006
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT

Professional Experience
1998–present
University of Pennsylvania, School of Design, Philadelphia, PA

1994-1997
Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA

1988
Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT

Bibliography
2009
Studio Visit Magazine, The Open Studios Press

New American Paintings, Mid-Atlantic Edition, The Open
Studios Press

2007
New American Paintings, Mid-Atlantic Edition, The Open
Studios Press

Selected Exhibitions

Solo

2007
Temporary Places, Rosenberg Gallery, Hempstead, NY

Two-person

2009
Cat Balco and Sharka Hyland, PrattMWP Gallery, Utica, NY

Group

2009
32nd Annual Wind Challenge Exhibition, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA

2nd Bangkok Triennale International Print and Drawing Exhibition, Bangkok, Thailand

2008
Sense of Place, Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, PA

Line and Time and Space, Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, PA

2007
New American Paintings, The Open Studios Press, Juried Exhibition in Print, Mid-Atlantic Edition

Miniature, The Banff Centre, Banff, Canada

Points of Departure, Fox Art Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1986
Ambiguous Relationships, Strathmore Art Center, Rockville, MD

The Aesthetic Text, The New Art Center, Washington, DC

Translations, The Art Barn Gallery, Washington DC

Exhibitions Curated

2008
In the Beginning: Exploring Origins in Contemporary Art, Penn Humanities Forum, Philadelphia, PA
Juror / curator