introduction

Born in New Zealand, Sheryl Maree Reily makes her home in Alaska and travels widely. While the communities she participates in may be geographically distant from one another, they are invariably impacted by technology, corporatization and the evacuation of wealth. Their struggle to balance economic survival with human and environmental wellbeing is at the center of her work. From development and habitat destruction to resource depletion and lack of access to resources, the complex issues Sheryl investigates in her work are systemic and global.

The gravity of the global situation and the increasing potential for disconnection between people and the environment motivated the integration of her artistic practice as a photographer within an expanded field of sculpture, performance, installation and art-based advocacy. An evolutionary trajectory away from objecthood toward re-conceived site-specific materials and local interventions is, for her, an act of creative impulse.

Sheryl’s work responds to the environmental, economic and technological forces that are actively shaping our collective existence. It is her intention to generate dialogue among individuals and constituencies, through work that is necessarily collaborative, conceptually motivated and pointed toward progressively deeper integration for the sake of environmental and human health.