Currently I am part of a group exhibition at Logan Art Gallery titled “Where do I belong? Our birds in Art”.  The exhibition contains work I’ve recently completed several of wings titled "Hide" (pictured above) which will be on display till 29th August 2026.

The works pictured above are all from "Hide", a body of work dedicated to creating wings of birds that are critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable or at risk in Australia.  These 5 works focus on birds in danger in Queensland.  The textile pieces are made using felt, wool, pins and embroidery on fabric.  Birds featured include the Powerful Owl, the Red Goshawk, the Golden Shouldered Parrot, the Blue Winged Parrot, the Glossy Black Cockatoo, the Swift Parrot and the Ecclectus Parrot.  In three of the larger works, using the "exquisite corpse" technique I have created the bird wings from 3 or 4 birds in combination, this gathering of species creates a "new bird wing" or I have  reproduced my impression of the bird wings (as seen in the smaller works).  The smaller works are made using conventions of museum display to create a specimen which shows the two sides of the wing of a single bird.  The inclusion of pins refers to the processes of taxidermy and also the texture of the feathers of the animals.

The title is a play on the word hide which both refers to the structure created by humans in nature to observe birds and wildlife unseen and also the skinned animal used as carpet and wall display in interior design. In "Hides" I am looking at the strange relationship we have formed with animals where they are viewed and kept at a distance studied by scientists, drawn by artists and placed in museums and zoos, on display in our homes in our furniture and eaten from our plates. This distance is what “bird hide” is about, its a view or a perspective on animal life that is human, how we preserve, record, document, imagine and objectify an animal as process of admiration and a form of cognitive dissonance . 

I have been back in the Queensland Museum doing more drawings of endangered species.  I did this latest drawing of a Sooty Owl, which isn't an endangered or vulnerable bird (unlike most of my drawings) this bird drawing is purely for practice.  The bird was a challenge to me due to the variety of feather patterns across the surface and the middle of the drawing crossing the spine of the book.  In order to depict the bird I had to make choices about what i would put into the drawing and what i would leave out to describe its overall appearance in an accurate way.  I enjoy spending a few hours consciously looking and focusing on a bird specimen and making a drawing from it.  This drawing represents a threshold for a personal aim I have which has nothing to do with the outer/professional experience/external validation of being an artist.  While doing this drawing I was trying to make myself look at the drawing the least amount of times in order to hone my hand eye coordination to test the boundaries of what i could do.  I find personal goals within my practice are a wonderful way to counter the sometimes crushing experiences of being an artist in the current arts climate.  

I am trilled to announce that I am part of the exhibition "Where Do I belong?" our birds in nature @loganartgallery from 20 June –29 August 2026 - Join me for the opening night 5.30pm on 19 June to see the rest of this new work and the other works in the series #exquisitecorpse Hide and the other works in the show by artists from around Australia. 

The work featured is titled Hide Exquisite Corpse (Blue Winged Parrot, Ecclectus Parrot and Powerful Owl) 2026.  Wool, felt, pins and embroidery on fabric.

The title Hide/Exquisite Corpse series refers to the dual meaning of the word "Hide" which can be either a space undercover to watch birds from a distance or a skin or preserved coat of an animal for the purposes of display;  both of these are relevant to the work in that they describe a complex relationship between humans and animals. "Exquisite Corpse" refers to the technique I have used for my work before where I take 3 or more sections of an endangered animal and connect it together to make a new animal.  In the wing pictured here are three endangered Queensland birds, the Blue Winged Parrot, Ecclectus Parrot and the Powerful Owl.  The works are made with a combination of felt/wool, pins and embroidery.  The pins representing the hidden pain of the animal.  The work was inspired by the scientific specimens at the Queensland Museum.

#endangeredspecies
#loganarts #wheredoibelong #explorelogan #RADF @logancity.council @bendigobank @artsqueensland
Photograph by Louis Lim

I am excited to announce that my work Exquisite Corpse 10 (Eastern Curlew, Plains Wanderer and Star Finch) has been selected as a finalist for the Waterhouse Natural Science Prize at the South Australian Museum.  The exhibition of works will be on display at the South Australian Museum from the 10th April to the 19th July 2026. 

The work is comprised of three endangered and vulnerable birds of Australia and the title Exquisite Corpse refers to both the Surrealist game and to the exquisite nature of the specimens I have drawn in preparation for making these images at the Queensland Museum.  I use a historical style of scientific illustration to depict the imagined bird, which references the period of discovery marking the beginning of the industrial age which has in our own time bought about the conditions for climate change we are currently experiencing.  The bringing together of the three birds also creates a new bird which refers to the ideas of cloning and also makes somewhat a “believable bird”. Importantly unless you read the information the image could lead you to believe it was an actual bird itself drawing attention to how information can be altered to give an impression of something that may not be true, something we are having to navigate in the time of artificial intelligence.

To see more on the Exquisite Corpse series go to the exhibitions tab in the drop down menu and select Exquisite Corpse. 
Photography by Louis Lim.

I’m excited to announce I won the Textile Prize in the 2025 Queensland Regional Art Awards with my work “Gathered Momentum” 2025 (Golden shouldered parrot, Red Goshawk and Plumed Frogmouth). Pictured above as displayed at the opening at Brisbane Quarter.  

The awards evening at Brisbane Quarter, 300 George Street Brisbane was an amazing event with most of the finalists in the prize attending, it was a chance to network and celebrate being included in the touring show and get up close with the works.  The exhibition will be on display in the foyer of Brisbane Quarter will be there till the 22nd December 2025, so get in there and have a look at the work if possible, there is amazing talent in the regions!  The exhibition titled Momentum will be touring through many regional galleries throughout 2026.
 
Winning anything in the arts is an amazing experience, there is a lot of competition and many talented and astonishing works. Winning is like a pat on the back and encouragement to keep going and money to do it.  I had no idea I was going to win anything (only the major prize winner knew they were going to win), so it was a great surprise.  It felt good to have confirmation that what I did worked and as the work hadn’t been previously shown to anyone, I used this competition to get it out there in front of audiences to get some feedback. Its exciting to get selected as a finalist and have the work tour but it takes it to another level to have recognition through winning a prize.

I'm grateful to Flying Arts which is a wonderful advocate for regional artists of Queensland and holds this amazing competition every year amongst all their other programs and education.  For further information on Flying Arts or the Momentum touring schedule check out their website.

I am happy to announce my work Exquisite Corpse 14 (Great Knot,Diamond Firetail and Masked Owl) 2025,  has been selected as a finalist for the Wyndham Art Prize and will be included in the show in 2026.  The exhibition opens on the 31/1/26 when the winners will be announced.  

Artist statement:  The title refers to both the game and the beauty of the preserved, labeled, carefully protected scientific skin which is itself quite exquisite and the game played by the Surrealists. In Exquisite Corpse 14 the bird is made of three birds, the Great Knot, Diamond Firetail and Masked Owl, which are listed as endangered or vulnerable in Australia. Sharon’s work is about the relationship between humans and the natural world with a particular focus on vulnerable and endangered species of birds as a way of expressing what Albrecht calls “Solastagia” (sense of grief experienced by humanity due to the climate crisis).

You can read more about the prize here

My work Gathered Momentum (2025, felt, embroidery and pins on fabric) has been selected as a finalist in the 2025 Queensland Regional Art Awards.  

The title “gathered momentum” refers to the continued unfolding of the climate crisis and its impact on all species. The work incorporates wool and pins both soft (attractive) and painful (repulsive) elements which creates a texture similar to the taxidermy in the museum and refers to the complex relationship between humans and other animals. There are three birds wings featured in the work:  Golden Shouldered Parrot, the Red Goshawk and the Plumed Frogmouth, all endangered and vulnerable Queensland birds.   This is part of a series titled Bird Hide, which refers to the disguised viewing platforms in forests for viewing birds (without being seen) and also the idea of a preserved “hide” or taxidermy.  

For more information or to see the other finalists please visit the Flying Arts website. 

I will be having an exhibition of my latest works in the Exquisite Corpse series at the Ipswich Community Gallery opening on the Wednesday the 4th June 2025 and continuing till Sunday 15 June 2025.  These new works are focused on the endangered and vulnerable species of birds of Queensland.  The exhibition also contains four of the original Exquisite Corpse works from the 2013 exhibition Endangered.  The opening morning tea will be on the first Saturday 7th June 2025 between 10 and 12pm.

  As you may have noticed if you follow my Instagram posts here, I have been back in the museum drawing more of Queensland's endangered bird species.  This work will contribute to the major body of work, Exquisite Corpse that I have been creating for over 10 years.  More information on the Exquisite Corpse series can be found under Exhibitions in the pull down menu.

My embroidery on eco-dyed fabric titled Silhouette One- Burnt out, is currently available for sale here  you can see a reel of me embroidering some of this piece on Instagram. 

"Inspired by Victorian mourning broaches and silhouette portraiture, Silhouette One- Burnt out (,Memoriam series) is part of a body of work titled solsatalgia about the sense of grief experienced by humanity due to the climate crisis. The portrait serves as an acknowledgement our mutual vulnerability, referencing bush fires and the green growth containing the promise of regeneration and hope for the future."