We’re so pumped about our conversation with Sheila Elias. Sheila is a Contemporary Artist and is also a content partner. Content partners help Voyage in so many ways from spreading the word about the work that we do, sponsoring our mission and collaborating with us on content like this.
Known as a painter, photographer, and sculptor and for her installation art, and collages made by combining paint and photographs, the evolution of technology has always paralleled her work throughout its development. From the original copy machine to today’s iPad, and the influence of electronics permeates her process. Sheila’s work has been shown widely in museums and galleries throughout the United States and abroad over the past three decades, including the New York Public Library, Bass Museum in Miami Beach, and the Musee des Arts Decoratifs at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Sheila’s art has been featured in exhibitions and galleries coast to coast and accorded international acclaim as well. Her paintings hang in such disparate places as Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL; Frost Art Museum, Miami, FL; The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL; Kunsan Contemporary Museum, Korea; Nova Scotia Museum, Nova Scotia, Canada., as well as many private collector’s homes.
Check out our conversation with Sheila below.
What are you thoughts while you are painting?
It changes while I am painting because the painting goes in more than one stage. At the beginning, you start with an idea that could be sparked by a word, from an color, from a shape, a story… many places inspire me to create art. The painting then takes over in a zen-like moment that tells me what to do. I wrestle control back from the painting to eliminate parts of the work for the good of the whole.
Are there moments in the action of completing a painting that you don’t feel in control?
Yes, this would be in the center portion of the painting, when the painting is telling what to do.
For your diminutive height, is it difficult for you to create large paintings?
No, it is not because I adapt. I paint on the floor because of my height but manage to create very large scale pieces. One of the largest painting I ever created is 10 ft by 16 feet. I also did a mural on a wall one time and I had to use scaffolding.
How do you choose your paint colors for the work you are creating?
It’s mostly intuitive but there are certain colors that I tend to like.
How do you decide if you want to do a sculpture or a painting? Or, something else entirely?
It conforms to the idea for the piece. That is not a difficult decision except that sculpture if you want to fabricate, which i do not do, costs so much money that you really have to have a patron to back you up.
What art piece would you like to recreate that you did many years ago?
I would not mind recreating an installation I did once. I did paintings of clouds about 8 feet each with a sculpture of the word “clouds “in front of them. They were puffy and white as if they burst out of the paintings. The other one is a group of sculptures I named “Totems” that I made out of cardboard, resin and paint. They were 5 to 10 fee tall. There were about 10 of them in different sizes and colors and were based on aerial views of the city.
Alright, so before we go, how can our readers connect with you to learn more and show support?
I can be reached at sheila@sheilaelias.com and you can call me at my studio at 305.892.9198. Please visit my website www.sheilaelias.com. You can also learn more about me and follow me on Instagram @sheilaeliasart and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sheila.elias/
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sheilaelias.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sheila.elias/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-elias-72067a18/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SheilaEliasArt
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgBXBTuyLohheFjfLG9MEVw
