Sheila Margaret Mullen
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Sheila Margaret Mullen STATEMENT “Structured Chaos” in a way feels like the return to my architectural drawing, presentation and model-building background, blended with my love for the random and abstract. Another element that has become very important to me is the history of the ephemera I use: items from the past that were intended to be short-lived and discarded, but have become fascinating and beautiful. I don’t use reproductions, and some of the items are now valuable as well. I also find so much whimsy, nostalgia and wonder in the very old materials, and love changing their meanings through juxtaposition in a piece. I’m not sure why I love microfiche and 16mm film so much, but I think it is the combination of the translucence with the linear form. I would have a hard time creating a collage without using filmstrips. I’ve done a few without View-Master slides, and that was a push. Oh and please don’t ask me to go without vintage tins. Or watch parts. Not much is meaningless in my work, and balance and form are critical. I love structuring and playing with the menagerie of the collage medium, and the hardest part often is deciding how to stop work on a piece (I usually simplify from the original multi-layered design). That is where I try to find a balance between the meaningful and deliberate detail when viewing up-close, with the visual impact when taking a few steps back. BIO b. 1963, Port Jefferson, New York Sheila grew up in Westfield, New Jersey, where she is proud to say she was voted class artist in Mr. Levine’s sixth grade class at Elm Street School. Her path to collage has been more of a muddy, cracked and potholed MC Escher-esque road, with formal education and experience mainly in the architectural field (drafting, presentation and model-making). Elements of graduate school projects at Wesleyan University really jump-started this collage obsession and love. Although the work has been in her head for longer, the studio time and ability to commit to pieces just began in 2013. Sheila’s first solo show, “Structured Chaos”, was at The Buttonwood Tree in Middletown, Connecticut, USA, 5-30 April 2014. Sheila is interested in showing her work more widely, both in North America and beyond. ARTIST CONTACT (860) 881-8045 IMAGES
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