Donna Sharrett is a textile artist from New York. She creates mandalas using textiles and found items.
Above & Below: Freebird – rose petals, synthetic hair, guitar-string ball ends, bone and rose beads, rings, beads sewn to a wax-covered box with embroidered ribbon.
Donna describes her work: “I consider my works meditations on the beauty of rituals developed over time to satisfy the fundamental human need to mark important passages in life. Cultural and religious mementos from both historic and contemporary references inspire the work. Materials are chosen for their symbolic significance.
Above & below: Maggie May – rose petals, synthetic hair, guitar-string ball-ends, button, rings, synthetic pearls, silk, blue jeans, thread.
“Nineteenth century memento mori hair jewelry, contemporary floral makeshift shrines, prayer beads, wedding rings, quilts and Buddhist mandalas are referenced. The geometric schemes of Gothic cathedral rose windows and the numeric configurations of religious prayer beads inform the mathematical arrangements of the work.
“Materials include rose petals, synthetic hair, rings, bone beads, handmade rose beads (inspired by a 13th-century recipe for rosary beads), blue jeans, damask linens and neckties. Guitar-string ball-ends are used as a dedication to my brother, Scot Sharrett (1961-2001), as are the song titles chosen to name the works.”
These pieces are terrific. I find them all visually appealing, and the discovery that they are constructed of unorthodox materials adds to their appeal. The designs, the detail and the colour scheme combine to create pieces of beauty, and as a body of work I find it simply charming.
You can see more of Donna’s work on her website, and she is represented by the Pavel Zoubok gallery in New York.
