We spoke to dot-art artist Sharon Mullane, whose unique art has been turning heads and raising questions in our current exhibition The Rough With The Smooth. Sharon uses a challenging and unpredictable medium to create her textural, abstract pieces and here she tells us about her artistic process and how she fell in love with using resin.
Q: How long have you been making art and which medium do you work with?
A: I’ve always been creative and dabbled in art or design from a young age. I gave up creating and doing art for a number of years as life and family took over. I started painting about two and a half years ago using acrylics, I then got into paint pouring using acrylic paints and shortly after that I discovered resin. Resin has become my main medium which I incorporate acrylic inks, alcohol inks and various other additives to achieve different effects. I’ve been working with resin for about two years now.
Q: What is it about resin that you enjoy?
A: There are so many aspects of resin that I enjoy. I love the glass-like quality of a finished resin piece and how I can build the layers of resin up, each layer being different that adds depth and dimension to the piece. I also love how I can create a mixture of both smooth and rough aspects in one piece.
Q: What’s the most challenging thing about the medium you use?
Time constraints and dust! You have a very limited time to work with resin (which varies by brand). The resin I use has about a 25 – 35 minute pot life, so anything I need to do has to be done in that time frame. Dust is my worst nightmare as I can’t control the elements, just a small speck of dust in the wrong place results in having to sand the whole piece back and a new layer of resin has to be done. I’ve learnt when to walk away.
Q: Describe your creative process. Do you make a plan before hand?
A: I don’t have a creative process so to speak but I do like to plan my colour palette in advance especially given the time constraints. Once I have a colour palette in mind I tend to get a feeling for the piece I’m about to do such as its abstract, a seascape or galaxy and the rest just happens.
Q: What or who inspires your art / are your biggest influences?
A: I love abstract art and bright bold pieces. My favourite artists are Leonid Afremov and Michael Lang as I love how they use colour and the vibrancy of their artwork.
Q: Lots of people viewing your work interpret it as water or sky. What do you see in your own work?
A: Some of my pieces are meant to be exactly that and other pieces I have done are more retro and abstract. Sometimes I start out with every intention of creating a particular type of work and the resin does its own thing and I end up with something quite different! I like creating pieces that don’t necessarily represent anything, sometimes it’s just about the colour combination and how those colours make me feel at that time. Some of my favourite pieces are all about the colours.
You can view Sharon Mullane’s art on her dot-art portfolio and here in the gallery in our current exhibition ‘The Rough With The Smooth‘ which runs until Saturday 4th August.