I am a prolific painter with an interest in contemporary technology and its potential uses in art production. I am conscientious artist with a deep concern for communities (past, present and mythical), people, science and the role of the individual as a contextual starting point for creating accessible but thought provoking work. I am an American and grew up on a dairy farm close to the Canadian border. I also previously worked on Wall Street. I have lived in England for over thirty years.
• I like to work on a BIG IDEA which is made up of many parts.
• I am a painter but I like to push the boundaries of painting.
• I always start small and work towards the larger scale.
• I like to think that my work is about giving.
• My work is about being positive.
• I like to involve people, especially the general public, within my work so that they form an intrinsic and vital element to a finished piece.
• I don’t like to repeat specific ideas or subjects but all my work is connected. One piece has always led on to the next in a continual artistic exploration.
• Trying the new, both in terms of my own artists exploration and new technologies is extremely important to me and interpreting that in my work, vital.
• I really dislike the belief that every piece of art work requires an explanation. If most people do not get it, then I believe you have failed as a visual artist.
My current project is: WHAT MAKES YOU, YOU?
This virtual visual interactive art project is online, ongoing, and digital. The answers to this question act as an inspiration for me to do a unique iPad image – a new kind of portraiture. The answers are submitted via:
website www.wmyy.co.uk
or
facebook http://www.facebook.com/
pages/Sally-Sheinman-What-Makes-You-You/234437876681331
or
twitter #WhatMakesYouYou
Creating each individual and personal portrait on my iPad - using the Brushes app – now takes me several days. You might imagine that the iPad is fast but actually it takes many hours to draw in fine detail. What makes using digital technology such an exciting medium for me is that I literally have my canvas with me. I can work anywhere in the world and anyone can connect with me from across the world. What MakesYouYou? is an online meeting place, connecting individual souls through digital technology. I have so far completed over 300 images for this project.
Digital and social interactivity are crucial to the project. I am motivated by the infinite scope of the question, ‘What makes you you?' and the opportunity to capture what makes people different. I am fascinated by people, their similarities and differences genetically, culturally, socially, and individually. I have always been interested in drawing people into a dialogue with me and my painting practice, through simple yet big questions.
It was made possible by an Arts Council England grant and won The Lumen International Founder’s Prize. It is an intimate quiet project even though it is public. It involves new technology and social networking and yet it is still has a traditional tangible
aspect.
Carla Rapoport is CEO and Founder of the Lumen Prize
said, “I am particularly taken with the open and engaging way that you are connecting with the subjects of your art, the nature of the work itself and your interest, as an artist, in exploring and visualising such personal themes. Your goals also reflect my goals when launching the prize - that is, to promote the engaging and enabling aspects of digital art as well as the art itself.”