Sharon’s words and painting reminded me of something. When he was pioneering Modernism, especially what he called “imagism,” [Ezra] Pound tried to write poetry that evoked emotions and impressions rather than pushing a particular message. What impression or emotion was the reader’s business. Sharon said that when her painting starts to look like something, her instinct is to “mess it up.” But her paintings look very much like somethings to me. They have depth and shape and substance. The somethings, however, aren’t preexisting, codified, tamed things. They exist pre-definition, pre-allocation, like Pound’s “Cantos,” hitting us with undeniable shape and sound, but leaving us to sort out our own relationship with it.
I love it.