Vicki Sher has crafted a unique personal language of color and form, drawing inspiration from formal relationships and guided by intuition. Within her practice, which spans painting, drawing, collage, and sculpture, Sher skillfully traverses the landscape of color codes, deftly exploring the nuanced dichotomies that emerge within her practice. With a keen eye for contrast, she delves into the interplay between abstraction and representation, vibrancy and quietude, as well as the juxtaposition of vast expanses and delicate minutiae. Formal balance and harmony are important in the work, sharing equal billing with emotional and narrative concerns. In Sher’s works, the exuberance of color and size confronts the quieter voices of subtlety and nuance, creating a duality that echoes the complex tapestry of human experience.
Sher’s painting practice begins and ends with color. Pouring over color chips, she leans into beauty and into joy as she contemplates what elements to bring into her Brooklyn studio. Sher is guided by the formal principles of composition and color relationships yet remains deeply connected to landscape and nature as she balances the presence of the natural world in her abstract work. “I need to grounding in reality… I am uncomfortable when untethered.” Sher's artistic journey consistently circles back to nature, where even a simple shape like a circle can transform the entire composition, imbuing it with newfound meaning and depth.
Sher’s interest in color, shape, composition, and the formal elements of painting coexist with a deep connection to the landscape. Sher's artistic journey consistently circles back to nature, where a circle can transform the entire composition, imbuing it with newfound meaning and depth. “My work sits at the intersection of Form and Joy. Balance and restraint butt heads with an ecstatic appreciation of color. I make paintings and sculpture that I want to exist because I want to make beautiful things. I use color to activate emotion, shapes to reference the natural and anthropomorphic world, then I give space around the activity to invite considerations about place and narrative. My concerns are tactile, and visual, but emerge from intuitive and instinctual impulses.”
Over the years, Sher has experimented with many mediums such as transparent cotton scrim, muslin, and drafting film to illuminate a narrative. Her compositions are built from many layers, which is why drafting film works particularly well for her desired aesthetic. Drafting film also referred to as mylar, is a thin, translucent, non-yellowing material that is stable under many temperatures. Due to the nature of this type of paper, Sher can work from both sides of the film to create a layered, 3D look. Whereas her painting practice is a process of addition to achieve harmony and balance, her work with drafting film can be a process of reduction, as marks can be erased seamlessly.
Born in Washington D.C. in 1966, Vicki Sher received her BFA from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, and received her MFA from the University of Iowa. Her work has been exhibited at public institutions, including the Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA, The Phillips Museum at Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, and the Beatrice M. Haggerty Gallery, University of Dallas, Dallas TX. She is the recipient of a MacDowell Colony Fellowship award and a VCCA Fellowship award. She has participated in numerous art fairs, including VOLTA Basel, NADA, and Art Paris Fair. Sher is represented by Frosch & Co. Gallery in New York, NY;, Maya Frodeman Gallery, Jackson, WY, George Gallery, Charleston, SC, and Galerie Louis Gendre, Chamalieres, France, among other galleries in the USA and Europe. Sher lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.