October 19, 2017

Meet Sheila Elias of Sheila Elias Art

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheila Elias.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Sheila. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started at the art Institute of Chicago junior school at 8 years of age. I loved looking at the artwork in the museum and after seeing Matisse’s work I told my mother I wanted to go there every day. She said that I could go on Saturdays and the summer. I wound up getting my undergraduate degree from there and my Masters in Fine Arts in California as a painter, sculptor and photographer. Over the years I started out exhibiting at art fairs then eventually galleries and museums both national and international.

Although I am primarily known for my multimedia paintings, I recently decided to venture into the realm of technology, by creating a new vision on my iPad. With the use of my finger I began to discover a new way of painting: through pixels. My studio has grown to include digital work. Becoming a name in the Apple community has only strengthened my conviction to continue exploring in this new medium.

I produce technological visions, pioneering with the iPad and I have held exhibitions across a myriad amount of Apple Stores around the World: Santa Monica, California, Lincoln Center, New York, Aventura Mall, Miami, and IFC apple store in Hong Kong. The iPad series has been exhibited at the Art Basel in Hong Kong, the California Heritage Museum, Rosenthal Fine Arts in Chicago, and the Mayson Gallery in New York. According to Visionary Art Trends, I had been compared to David Hockney, one of Britain’s most innovative and famous artists.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Supporting yourself through the arts is always a challenge. It is like being an independent contractor and not knowing if you will have another chance at both exhibiting your art and financially being able to produce.

Being a female contemporary artist has always been extremely difficult because over the years there was always a bias and actually even today, women artists’ work maintains lower pricing.

Sheila Elias Art – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am a contemporary artist living in Miami. My art, whether it is photography, sculpture, or paintings, has always been a visual interpretation of my internal landscape, which is significantly influenced by external landscapes.

Clearly, I believe that art and the ability to enjoy it, is a heritage that should be shared by everyone, not just an elite few. My views and thoughts have been aired in mainstream media in major cities, art publications and even in the California state legislature, where I shared the podium with actress Jean Stapleton and spoke on behalf of grants for visual artists. Inside or outside.

“Somewhere-Anywhere,” a book written by a full bright scholar, Robert Morgan, and critic, Peter Frank, was the subject of a retrospective exhibition at Nova Southeastern University. The book was published shortly following my traveling show, which originated at the Multi-Cultural Arts Center in Cambridge, MA and then traveled to Laredo Center for the Arts in Texas and culminated at The Coral Springs Museum of Art in Florida. 50% of the proceeds from this book goes to the Psychology Department at Nova South Eastern University.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Exhibiting at the Louvre in Paris, France. I was one of the two contemporary American painters whose work was chosen for the exhibit. The Franco-American Committee, a group of French and United States citizens, organized the show to commemorate the Statue of Liberty’s 100th anniversary this year. It went from the New York public library to France.

Another highlight was exhibiting at Art Basel Hong Kong.

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