SHERYL ZACHARIA

Sheryl Zacharia was born and raised in the New York area and lived in Manhattan most of her adult life. At Southampton College, she majored in painting but spent many years pursuing a career as a singer-songwriter. She performed in the NYC club circuit for over ten years and is a published songwriter.

Missing her visual arts roots, she began working in clay which started her on a new artistic path. She studied and taught in various Potteries and has exhibited both locally and nationally. Her pieces have been published in magazines and books, and are in various museum and private collections. She completed an eight month extended residency at The Museum of Arts and Design in NYC.

 Though she admittedly considers herself a diehard New Yorker, she recently moved to Santa Fe New Mexico to live out her dream of being a full time artist with a home studio. She looks forward to a different pace where her energy can go into her work and she can enjoy the surrounding beauty and culture that the area has to offer.

 She has been on the Faculties of Greenwich House Pottery in NYC, The Art School at Old Church in Demarest NJ, The West Side Y in NYC, and has taught numerous workshops including Harvard Ceramics, Kingsborough College, and most recently at Ghost Ranch and Santa Fe Community College. Her future plan is to concentrate solely on her clay work and painting in the inspiring beauty of the Southwest.

Artist statement

My art is a reflection of my interaction with the visual world, and the deep emotional connection I have to it.

The sculptures are inspired by my love and deference for nature and my intuitive connection to past cultures.

My current work straddles a conversation between geometry and fluidity. This tension is driving my compositions as well as the interaction between positive and negative spaces and the color palette to bring overall unity.

The abstract shapes and painted surfaces are influenced by my music and painting backgrounds. Pattern and form are rhythm, palette is harmony, lines and shapes are lyrical. Creating brings me great joy and is a language for me to express myself. When I see beauty in life or art I want to repeat it in a unique and meaningful way. I’m striving to make visual poetry