Danielle Sher’s practice explores the psychological landscape of human experience through expressive figuration and visceral environments. Working in primarily soft pastel and oil paint, Sher examines emotional tension, memory, and self-reflection. Inviting viewers to confront the hidden turmoil underlying everyday life. Her work aims to elicit empathy and introspection, bridging the private and the universal.

 

Through representing people in dark realities, I am analyzing the emotional turmoil underlying our behaviors. I am attracted to how we psychologically manifest various experiences in our lifetime, and how that can relate to those other than us. My work begs the viewer to reexamine their private life, to acknowledge their emotions, and to question how their experiences have shaped the person they have become in society. With my use of dramatic light against darkness, winding landscapes, and expressive figures, I create both paintings and drawings that feel boundless and stressful. My work attempts to reveal the intimacy of the viewer’s experiences to allow them to connect with themselves as well as those that are strangers.