FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

DONNA SHARRETT  Repertoire

November 17 – December 17, 2005

PAVEL ZOUBOK GALLERY is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of new works by New York artist DONNA SHARRETT. Please join us for the opening reception on Thursday, November 17, from 6-8pm, or during the run of the exhibition, which continues through December 17.

The gallery is located at: 533 West 23rd Street (between 10th & 11th Avenues)

Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10am-6pm

DONNA SHARRETT combines sculpture, craft techniques and non-traditional materials to create meticulous objects that draw upon the historical and symbolic significance of the circular form. Initially the primary influences for her work were 19th century memento mori hair jewelry and the contemporary practice of heaping flowers in makeshift shrines. She draws upon these themes and the materials of hair and roses to create works that respond to the beauty of rituals developed over time. Her work addresses the fundamental human impulse to mark important passages in our lives, transcending the confines of economic, political, religious, cultural and national boundaries.

In 2001, an increased awareness of the personal and public rites of memorial led Sharrett to incorporate new materials and references. Two simultaneous events at that time refocused the direction of her work. First, while packing the belongings of her recently deceased brother Scot Sharrett, a musician, she discovered a collection of hundreds of guitar-string ball ends among his belongings. She also learned that workers at the World Trade Center recovery site had discovered a wedding ring that belonged to a passenger from one of the fallen airplanes. These circular metal objects, a universally symbolic wedding ring and the personally significant tiny music “beads”, symbolized to Sharrett the essence of ritual. 

In Arrangements, the resulting series, rings are incorporated as inspired by these varying sources. The circular forms and compositions reflect the seamless continuum of ritual that binds the past to the present, and the present to the future. Mirroring the Buddhist mandala form, the circular shape enveloped by the square background characterizes the infinite within the finite. The geometric schemes of Gothic rose windows and the numeric configurations of religious prayer beads inform the mathematical arrangements of the work. 

In addition to the use of rose petals, synthetic hair and rings, the materials in Sharrett’s new work include bone beads and handmade ”rose” beads inspired by a 13th-century recipe for rosaries. The works are sewn to a wax covered wooden box, drilled to accommodate the stitching. The materials are chosen specifically for their symbolic values. Guitar-string ball ends are used as a dedication to the artist’s brother, as are the song titles chosen to name the works, each carefully embroidered to a ribbon attached to the sides of the boxes with tiny straight pins. A variety of needlework techniques are employed, including crochet, embroidery and needlelace, each serving to tie together the ideas of fragility and strength, power and beauty, loss and rebirth, beginning and end.

For additional information and images please contact Julie Brunner Cross at

(212) 675 7490 or [email protected]