Born on the beautiful island of Saint Martin and moving around between the islands of the Dutch Caribean, opened Sha up to different cultures, people and their lifestyles, and the excitement of never knowing what's coming next. None of the islands are completely alike, and it informed my inner desire to learn and get to know different types of people. What is it about them which makes them tick? Especially women. My character was always different. Filled with questions about life with feeling emotions so deeply and seeing the consequences of the actions of others. Silently studying others served a much larger purpose as life developed. Secrets are not just secrets.
Using different materials and possessing a unique signature style inspired by fashion, arts
and religion, Sha displays an evocative and powerful edge, combined with confidence and
fearlessness in her bold portrayal of different aspects of women and their personalities. Sha enters into communion with her paintings. Her personal experiences, rich imagination and insights, merge and mingle with the canvas. Strengthen by her powerful insight and a confidence in showing different parts of women and their pains, which are forever transforming their personalities, as she strives to capture this unique transformation in her painting. It's the transformation from pain to victory. Like our world, the inner or outer, is just a stage. A performance, where actors wear a different face when needed. Most of a woman’s desires and wants are supressed by the silent rules of society, waiting to eagerly burst out; this is the moment Sha eternalizes on canvas. Sometimes it’s man’s and or a woman’s dirty dominating needs and behaviour, with far reaching unimaginable consequences, which are portrayed on canvas, for lies are not an option in the world of creation.
The act of painting itself for Sha is like becoming one with another, a person who lives, breathes, cries and laughs, on her canvas. When you look closely at her art you can see that none of the paintings are smooth. She reveals the painful imperfections aswell as the beauty of women’s bodies, including the undeniable scars, self and life inflicted. For these scars will always remain present, like deep secrets screaming to be released into the world simultaneously with the lessons learned. Sha’s art is about pushing boundaries. Learning from past mistakes. Displaying secrets and desires both from a male and female perspective. Coming out of the shadows of inner lust and feeling free, healed, to once again live and open up to your body’s desires.
Sha expounds and celebrates how women learn to forgive themselves, unconditionally, without judgement, exploring the boundaries or limitation while gaining control of their bodies to explore as they please. Sha is embracing the sensual and sexualliberation, transcending domination and fear, while celebrating the scars and wounds which represent the knowledge and experience gained along the way. As beauty is perfectly imperfect, Sha’s canvases show the development of utter self-love. Exposing both male and female subjugation and domination, while still displaying a sensuality and sexuality. Sha's art is luxurious while challenging, a slice of reality, all wrapped up in bold, powerful and unforgettable imagery.
As a child of the Dutch Caribbean, today's Sha's is in the Netherlands. Her art is born from her fascination with women; the hurt, lust, longing for. The degrading remarks or action, the vulnerable positions women are unknowingly forced into, the criticism levelled from men, and women, and the way women handle these situations, viewing themselves and each other. It's about capturing the transition from pain to victory.
