BIO

Tara Sharpe was born in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1982 and spent her formative years between the ocean of the Gold Coast and the mountains of North Carolina. As an only child Sharpe began creating at a very young age as a form of escape. She constructed elaborate tales of mythology and dystopian folklore that evolved into an entire world populated with rich characters. Blending litter and natural findings with traditional supplies, she adorned herself and her toys, filling a lonely childhood with color and decoration. Sharpe’s formal art education started at the age of 12 at Dreyfoos School of the Arts and she began exhibiting and selling work at 14. It was at this time Sharpe’s interest in depicting the female face and form began. At the age of 15, Sharpe received a full scholarship for a Fine Art Residency Program at School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. After living in New York for over a decade, she relocated to Arizona. In Fall 2013, Sharpe founded the award winning project Artelphx (now Artelshow). In October 2015, her solo show Sirens & Serpents opened in Phoenix. In 2016, she was selected for “100 Creatives” by Phoenix New Times and interviewed by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine in March 2017. Sharpe presented her first public art as part of She Tempe in 2017. Exhibited and collected throughout the country, her work evolves with a consistent theme: The beauty and darkness inherent in the feminine divine.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Tara Sharpe’s work complicates perceptions of beauty and myth using saturated jewel tone colors in layered opacities. Shown as symbolic entities, the female subjects gaze directly at or beyond the viewer, creating a hypnotizing tension. Ornamentations and other worldly elements provide protection to Sharpe’s women, as they are protectors themselves. Influenced most significantly by Post-Impressionism, Expressionism and Art Nouveau, Sharpe’s work seeks to add a new depiction of feminine beauty independent of current time and events, presenting its own origin and mythology stories.

EDUCATION

Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Visual Arts Graduate, West Palm Beach, Florida

School of Visual Arts, Full Scholarship for Residency Program, New York, New York

PUBLIC ART

2018 Floral + Fauna collaborative mural with Eric Cox at 15th Ave + Polk, Phoenix, Arizona

2017 - Present She Tempe: A Self Guided Art Walk on Mill Ave, Tempe, Arizona

SELECT EXHIBITS

2019 My Favorite Things, Sisao Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona

2019 Women’s History Month, Fair Trade, Phoenix, Arizona

2019 Maybe 2019 Will Be Better, The Compound, Phoenix, Arizona

2018 Flora, Fauna & The Feminine Form: Solo Show of Tara Sharpe, The Hive, Phoenix, Arizona

2018 Control, Alt, Create, New School for The Arts & Academics, Tempe, Arizona

2018 The Devil's House, The Open Source, Tempe, Arizona

2018 Friendzone, The Open Source, Tempe, Arizona

2018 Female Artist Show, Fair Trade, Phoenix, Arizona

2018 Art Detour 30, The Lodge, Phoenix, Arizona

2017 Little Works, Little Wonders, The Artery, Phoenix, Arizona

2017 Sacred and Profane, 11th Monkey, Phoenix, Arizona

2017 Jolie Laide Paintings on Paper by Tara Sharpe, The Artery, Phoenix, Arizona

2017 LOVE Small Works Show, The Artery, Phoenix, Arizona

2017 Nasty Women Phoenix, Grand Art Haus, Phoenix, Arizona

2016 Show Me What You Got, The Liquor Gallery, Tempe, Arizona

2016 SNOW, The Coe House, Phoenix, Arizona

2016 Gods & Monsters, {9} The Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona

2016 NSFW, {9} The Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona

2016 Ladies of the House, Icehouse, Phoenix, Arizona

2016 Focused, {9} The Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona

2016 Square 16, The Liquor Gallery, Tempe, Arizona

2015 Tiny Works | Tiny Dances, {9} The Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona

2015 Icelandia, Lotus Contemporary Art, Phoenix, Arizona

2015 AZ45 Exhibit, Tieken Gallery, Paradise Valley, Arizona

2015 McMuses, Instant Inspiration, Phoenix, Arizona

2015 Sirens and Serpents: The Art of Tara Sharpe, Solo Show, {9} The Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona

2010 Regional Juried Art Exhibit, South Haven Center for the Arts, South Haven, Michigan

2005 EG2 Gallery, West Palm Beach, Florida

2003 Cooper Union, New York, New York

2001 Southern Exposure Gallery, West Palm Beach, Florida

2000 Dreyfoos Senior Exhibit, Habitat Gallery, West Palm Beach, Florida

1998 Armory Juried Sculpture Show, Armory Arts Center, West Palm Beach, Florida

AWARDS

2016 Top 100 Creatives, Phoenix New Times

2014 Best Arts Festival, Phoenix New Times