Simone Bridget Sheridan

I spent my childhood in Vancouver Island, and I credit the temperate rainforest that was the landscape of my youth for many ideas that I work with today – ideas of scale, of texture, of intimacy, and of mystery. Most of my paintings are portraits of imaginary fungus or plants, often cross-sections that expose the interior of the plant rather than the exterior surface. They could be microscopic, or they could be enormous. I enjoy playing with texture, using a variety of paints and shellac to create crackle patterns and unique colors. I have recently moved away from working on paper in favor of larger wood panels, often discarded cabinet doors or drawers. I especially like the self-referential quality of creating art on panels that provide a built-in frame. Biology textbooks, microscopic slides, and Natural History exhibits have provided a wealth of inspiration for these images. I spent many years working in New York before moving to the Bay Area in California. I studied Fine Art at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, and, after spending several years working as an entomology assistant at the American Museum of Natural History, I now work as a veternian technician and am pursuing a degree in Biology.