ISE
SHARP
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ABOUT
“My paintings are energetic self-portraits that reflect the body and self as ever-changing fields of energy. Each work captures the embodied presence of a given moment, translating subtle states of being into material form. Shaped by my Jamaica-American heritage, Sephardic Jewish, European, Chinese, and West African ancestry, and a transnational upbringing between New York, Jamaica, and Tokyo, my practice is guided by ancestral wisdom, natural environments, and the teachings of non-duality. I use organic materials such as charcoaled bone, mica, marble dust, and fruit seeds to create monochromatic surfaces that act as living vessels. These paintings are not fixed depictions, rather meditations on oneness. They are places where the physical and metaphysical meet, and where identity is experienced as fluid, relational, and inseperable with all life.
My work is informed by diverse artistic lineages such as Gutai, Shan shui, Surrealism, and Caribbean Intuitive painting. These influences converge in a process of mark making and full body gestures that form fields encompassing self and cosmos, gesture and language, substance and spirit. Through this approach, I seek to create works that resonate as portals of energy and perception that open onto the interconnected fabric of existence.
I am currently based in South East Portugal. I hold a BA in Art from Pomona College (California, USA) and MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art (London, UK). ”
CURRICULUM VITAE
Education
2024 – 2025: MA Painting, Royal College of Art, London
2017 – 2021: BA Studio Art, Pomona College, California, USA
Group Exhibitions
2025 - Chimera in a Vat, Sitnalt, Hypha Studios, London, UK
2025 – Footfall Echos, Safe House, London, UK
2025 – Degree Show, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2025 – Parrhesia ARK, Royal College of Art, The Hockney Gallery, London, UK
2025 – Ancestral Utopias, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2025 – Works on Paper, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2024 – Tiny Works, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2023 – SAC Summer Showcase, Alison Bradley Projects, New York, USA
2022 – SAC Summer Showcase, Alison Bradley Projects, New York, USA
2021 – Deviance, Static Arts Collective, Lazy Susan Gallery, New York, USA
2021 – Now We Must Depart Again, Chan Gallery, California, USA
2021 – Kindling, Chan Gallery, California, USA
2021 – Artfem, Biennial of Macau, Macau, China
Residencies and Awards
2025 – Teaching Residency in collaboration of University of Gloucestershire, UK
2021 - The Matthew Klopfleisch Prize in Art, Pomona College, USA
Interviews/Press
2024 - “Body Mapping with Ise Sharp”, And the Sun, New York, USA
2020 - “Voices on Silence”, Jamaican Observer, Kingston, Jamaica