Sharon McElroy Artist and Filmmaker

I am an artist and filmmaker based in London and I use textiles to explore identity and shared histories in relation to place. Through choreographed costumed performance, video and installation I explore themes of identity, community and conflict using motifs sourced from folklore, art-history and popular culture which are then re-contextualized to expose hidden narratives and create new ones. Research is undertaken through engagement with specific communities and contexts and I have extensive experience of working within a diverse range of communities and environments. These include: a community drop in centre for homeless and vulnerably housed men and women, a living military history group and Napoleonic fort, a group of heritage motorcyclists and an iconic 'bikers' cafe, a Roman Catholic priest, his church and vestments, invasive species and pollution within a wetlands environment, the social history surrounding a past owner of a National Trust Country Estate and Post Traumatic Stress disorder on the former site of a WW1 military hospital.
I have also assisted with several Heritage Lottery Funded projects as a costume maker and oral history collector.
I gained an MA Fine Art (2013) and BA (Hons) Time-Based Media (2011) at Wimbledon College Of Arts, London. I have twice worked with the arts organisation Unravelled, having received commissions to create work for Wetlands Unravelled (2021) and Unravelling The Vyne (2013). Conference screenings include Digital/Material: developments in printed and woven textiles (2017) and The Erotic Cloth Colloquium (2015) for The University For The Creative Arts.
Production Still Disturbance (2021)
My work has been exhibited widely in the UK; venues include: 44AD Gallery, Bath (2019), The Whitstable Biennale Satellite Programme (2018), The Brighton Fringe Festival (2018), The Horsebridge Arts Centre, Whitstable (2018 & 2017), Surface Gallery Nottingham (2017), hARTslane Gallery, London (2016), A-Side B- Side Gallery, London (2016) and Contemporary Applied Arts Gallery, London (2015).
Production still Disturb_ance 2021
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Copyright Sharon McElroy 2022
GRAPHICS-DESIGN-CREATIVE