Sharron Pierce
Sharron Pierce (Chicago, 1944) came into her creativity after she took some art history courses at Mudelein College (BFA 1985) in Chicago. The subject peaked her interest, but some of the vocabulary wasn’t in her wheelhouse. She decided to fill in the blanks by taking art courses, and as soon as pencil hit paper she knew she was hooked. Photography and drawing classes followed, with her eye trained on leaves and roots intertwined with rough ground. This subject matter would surface in her work time and time again, in the form of familiar marks and shapes.
Some major life changes left Pierce feeling rudderless in the late 1990’s. Even though she had begun to work with clay at Noise Studio in Evanston, she felt depressed. A friend suggested shifting her life back to learning, recommending the Interdisciplinary Arts Program at Columbia College (MFA 1997) in Chicago. The program, which highlighted visual arts, writing, sound, philosophy, drama and dance, encouraged students to think outside of the box. She decided to incorporate clay into her degree after having grown fond of tapping into her artistic instincts through it.
Initially, Pierce worked in a more realistic style, but felt hemmed in by it. She had her breakthrough during an extended class trip that directly put her in touch with nature. Each artist picked a spot in the woods and created work in response to their environment. Upon returning the second day to resume her piece, she found it vandalized. This breech of sacred space broke something open in her. She realized that throughout her entire life, her space had never been respected, and she would change that from this point forward. Pierce created hundreds of small sculptural clay pieces in and around the trees in response to this experience. She took control of her space and invited fellow students in, and she’s remembered that feeling ever since. Shortly after, she transformed her life to fit her needs, and focused on becoming an artist.
In the year 2000 she, and a few other artist with connections to Columbia, came together and formed the Ten Chicago Women Artists group. Nearly two decades later, the artists are still together and support each other’s work. Collectively they’ve shown at ARC Gallery, Jane Adams Hull House, Around the Coyote, Bridgeport Art Center and many other art spaces. Pierce started off showcasing the ceramic work she created in the late 90’s. These included figurative pieces made with a grog-filled terracotta clay. The forms skew female because she connects the curves and coarse surfaces to her experiences in nature. The pieces exude motion, and embody a sense of freedom from rules and expectations.
After a few years of work and life distractions, Pierce refocused on hand building. An upcoming show for the Ten Women’s group forced her to think past creating monumental sculptures. The days of moving her impressive but heavy work were over, and she needed something new to restart her love of ceramics. A mini session at Lincoln Square Pottery Studio – Learning Center in 2014 did the trick. The artist plunged right into creating sculptural tiles that carried the marks of her beloved drawings and photo projects. Flat surfaces with score marks soon took on more dimensional proportions. Flowing ridges, earth-toned stains and slashes of porcelain slip started to take her to a familiar artistic place. More than 30 new pieces made it into the group’s exhibition, and set her off on a new course. The following years have been an exploration of pinch pot vessels she calls her moon jars. She could save time by throwing them on the wheel, but loves the manipulation of the clay too much. They bear a resemblance to the pod-like sculptures she created in the woods, and she keeps pushing each vessel to be larger and more dynamic in its surface treatment. Letting go gives her a kind of freedom, which is what she values most of all. Pierce starts the work with an inkling of what she’d like to see develop, but ultimately lets her intuition, and the clay dictate what it becomes. She revels in this flexibility, and hopes this series will evolve so that she can showcase it with her beloved women’s group.