Second Thursday receptions: September 9 and October 14, 6 - 9 pm
Islanded is an exhibition of drawings made with wire, consisting of flat, net-like structures made from steel and silver wire. Sharka Hyland’s current body of work explores the notion of representing a three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional plane in an alternative manner, outside of the conventional framework of the Albertian perspective. Specifically, Hyland is working toward an illusionist space emerging from a quintessentially flat abstract pattern. The structures first appear to be drawings. They might seem to also be three-dimensional forms. They can be maps, nets, clouds, rocks, islands, and more.
Hyland is intrigued by the process through which large and complex structures emerge from small, uniform elements – a form which connotes time. Using a pencil, pen, or a small brush, she draws adjoining quadrangles; they first assemble into simple crystal-like shapes. As these formations accumulate, they begin to evolve into larger, more intricate surfaces. A notion of volume evolves in an organic way, continuously projecting and receding. In these drawings, the illusionist space is not really constructed; instead, it gradually emerges. It remains in flux, allowing the artist to respond to its implications.
