Barbara Sharp
2023
I've chosen to use portraiture to tell the stories of people's lives as they grapple with political, educational and economic conditions that make it difficult for them to advance.
In my current series of paintings I explore the lives of people I have worked with as a doctor over several summers in a small rural Tanzanian hospital. Ive been painting on paper mounted on canvas. My backgrounds are part of my story telling. Some are based on traditional kitenge cloth and some are monotypes. I have also painted scenes of the local town
My previous series focused on my personal family history. My relatives immigrated from Norway in 1920 and the final gallery image to the right,
"Welcome to America", depicts fleeting time, memory, and the need to hold onto one's culture.