SHARON ARNOLD
Dimensions Variable began in 2008 as a collection of writings about art, artists, and art ecosystems but has since become the confluence where all my streams of interest meet. When not working on my own independent research topics in more philosophical and spiritual realms, I often write essays for artists, galleries, and arts publications. A selection of these may be found through the art writing tab on my menu at the top. You can view the archives from my former art space, Bridge Productions/LxWxH in the link below.
About me:
Hi, I'm Sharon. I'm an essayist tethering art, wonder, magic, ecology, spirituality, and culture together through frameworks of animism, philosophy, enchantment, and cultural theory. Other more personal perspectives and experiences I work from are that I live in the PNW among the lands that raised me; I'm queer and genderfluid; I'm neurodivergent, chronically ill, and disabled; I'm a high school dropout and worked the stoves in restaurant kitchens for 17 years, but have a bachelor’s degree now and have spent the last 16 years working in the arts as a curator, arts writer, and educator; I haven’t been connected to my blood relatives in many years so their names are a sadness but I've spent a lifetime researching to better understand my multiple, varied, and complicated ancestries, working mostly within my white-identified Irish- and Scottish-American lineages. My interest is in the way these deeply interconnected themes form confluences and expressions of both life and knowledge that shape our contemporary lives; especially when nurtured in community, conversations, and connectivity. My most recent projects, various works, formal accolades, and curriculum vitae may be found on www.dimensionsvariable.org. I’m not really that fancy—to see me ranting and raving with Steller’s Jays in the early morning while they peck at their hazelnuts and I drink my coffee and the squirrels chide us both is to truly know me.
The semi-formal biz:
I studied for two and a half years at Pratt Institute, with a focus on sculpture and printmaking, and a minor in art history; but I received my BFA from Cornish College of the Arts with a focus on critical theory and semiotics. In addition to various independent curatorial projects and writing, I also ran an online project turned physical exhibition space, Bridge Productions which, until its final projects in 2020, focused on collaborative process-based work, talks, and projects by artists, curators, writers, activists, and performers through various modes of storytelling in online exhibitions, digital residencies, and social media; as well as periodic curatorial projects, in-print publications, and public programming. From 2018-2020 I co-taught various classes on folklore, folk magic practices and history, and restorative cultural and ancestor practices at Madrona House Apothecary. I also taught from 2017-2020 as an adjunct instructor in the art department at Cornish College of the Arts, with an emphasis on the ethics and practicum of curatorial and exhibition-making; as well as integration of critical, cultural, and political theory and research in studio practices. I've recently been published in the internationally acclaimed Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture, as well as Irish publication Airmid's Journal, Portland-based Variable West, and Seattle's only in-print arts periodical, PublicDisplay.Art as well as online arts magazine New Archives, and several artist catalogues for J. Rinehart Gallery.
My complete curriculum vitae can be found here.
About me:
Hi, I'm Sharon. I'm an essayist tethering art, wonder, magic, ecology, spirituality, and culture together through frameworks of animism, philosophy, enchantment, and cultural theory. Other more personal perspectives and experiences I work from are that I live in the PNW among the lands that raised me; I'm queer and genderfluid; I'm neurodivergent, chronically ill, and disabled; I'm a high school dropout and worked the stoves in restaurant kitchens for 17 years, but have a bachelor’s degree now and have spent the last 16 years working in the arts as a curator, arts writer, and educator; I haven’t been connected to my blood relatives in many years so their names are a sadness but I've spent a lifetime researching to better understand my multiple, varied, and complicated ancestries, working mostly within my white-identified Irish- and Scottish-American lineages. My interest is in the way these deeply interconnected themes form confluences and expressions of both life and knowledge that shape our contemporary lives; especially when nurtured in community, conversations, and connectivity. My most recent projects, various works, formal accolades, and curriculum vitae may be found on www.dimensionsvariable.org. I’m not really that fancy—to see me ranting and raving with Steller’s Jays in the early morning while they peck at their hazelnuts and I drink my coffee and the squirrels chide us both is to truly know me.
The semi-formal biz:
I studied for two and a half years at Pratt Institute, with a focus on sculpture and printmaking, and a minor in art history; but I received my BFA from Cornish College of the Arts with a focus on critical theory and semiotics. In addition to various independent curatorial projects and writing, I also ran an online project turned physical exhibition space, Bridge Productions which, until its final projects in 2020, focused on collaborative process-based work, talks, and projects by artists, curators, writers, activists, and performers through various modes of storytelling in online exhibitions, digital residencies, and social media; as well as periodic curatorial projects, in-print publications, and public programming. From 2018-2020 I co-taught various classes on folklore, folk magic practices and history, and restorative cultural and ancestor practices at Madrona House Apothecary. I also taught from 2017-2020 as an adjunct instructor in the art department at Cornish College of the Arts, with an emphasis on the ethics and practicum of curatorial and exhibition-making; as well as integration of critical, cultural, and political theory and research in studio practices. I've recently been published in the internationally acclaimed Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture, as well as Irish publication Airmid's Journal, Portland-based Variable West, and Seattle's only in-print arts periodical, PublicDisplay.Art as well as online arts magazine New Archives, and several artist catalogues for J. Rinehart Gallery.
My complete curriculum vitae can be found here.