Artist Statement

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I am a multidisciplinary artist based in Boston. Through my artistic endeavors, which include sculptural ceramics, installations, and public art, I invent three-dimensional worlds that explore memory and the challenges posed by its fragile nature. I believe that the past is caught between three discrete elements: its reality, our idealization of that reality, and the impossibility of recapturing that reality. By investigating these intersections I reclaim fragments of memory, defying the notion that reclaiming memories is beyond our grasp.

Another recurring theme of my work involves exploring how disparate objects, when combined, can become a new unified whole. I enjoy using repetition and variation to create visual echoes of interdependence, unifying distinct elements. This often manifests in a pattern of making and arranging “multiples.”

Conceptually I consider my sculptures, site specific works, and public art interventions as catalysts for social change. I am fascinated by researching a place and envisioning how a sculpture can animate a site into an intentional place that invites connection and participation.

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TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

As a teaching artist, Shirah strongly believes in the transformative power of the arts. With her energetic approach to teaching, she aims to empower each one of her students by teaching them how to use techniques and art materials such as hand-building and sculpting in clay; creating mosaics; and watercolor painting to name a few. Shirah encourages her students to develop and expand their visual vocabulary as she also supports them to express themselves fully and freely. Shirah’s positive and encouraging personality extends naturally to her teaching philosophy.

She promotes multidisciplinary experimentation with art processes and visual observation.

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Core to her teaching is igniting the flow of creative thinking. Shirah is committed to incorporating both contemporary visual culture and art history into her instruction. She employs the use of self-reflection to help students analyze their work and encourages documentation of the students’ processes including “gallery openings” for finished works.  

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Originally having trained in studio art (ceramics) and psychology, Shirah creates figurative ceramics and sculptures inspired by emotion, expression, and abstraction. In addition to her own work, Shirah is a community artist who creates art with the collaborative contributions of different groups. She develops a creative process that gathers groups to work creatively on projects larger in aim, scope, and scale than they could achieve individually.

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