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Artist Bio





Sharon Smith is a contemporary photographic artist whose work explores themes of authenticity and visibility within the lived experience of womanhood. Creating a safe and nurturing space, Sharon works in a deeply collaborative manner, moving away from rigid, traditional portrait conventions and encouraging her subjects to shed both literal and metaphorical masks.

Sharon's practice is rooted in navigating the highly conservative and misogynistic culture she experienced growing up female in pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland. Her work explores how societal expectations– particularly within this patriarchal Western culture – shape women's lives from youth, through motherhood and beyond menopause. Long fascinated with the question of Who Gets to be Seen? andcoupled with the pressures placed on women in regard to self image, Sharon's practice examines themes of visibility and authentic self expression through sensitive and intimate portraiture.

Informed by her background in both nursing and psychotherapy, Sharon adopts a non-judgemental, trauma informed process, bringing an acutely empathetic approach to her practice which celebrates unfiltered self-expression, resilience and reclamation of the self. Nurturing strict boundaries she creates a safe space which results in a profound and respectful exchange between artist and subject: an intimacy that is evident in the sensitivity and presence within her work.

Exhibitions

Solo Shows

the in_Visibility project: Surviving Patriarchy, Signal Arts [Bray], forthcoming 2026

This is Me [Wicklow Town], [Feb 2026]

In_Visibility Project Exhibition, [Wicklow Town], [Feb 2025]


Group Shows

  • RHA Annual Exhibition, [Dublin 2026]
  • What is Truth? Does truth really exist? An Chéad Tine, [Kilkenny 2026]
  • Lust for Life: Works Inspired by Frida Kahlo, The Artists Pool, [London 2026]
  • RHA Annual Exhibition, [Dublin 2025]
  • Women in Art Fair, [London], [Jun 2025]
  • Outset Gallery Christmas Show, [Galway], [Dec 2024]
  • The South West Academy Annual Open Exhibition, [Sidmouth], [Nov 2024]
  • Women in Art Fair, [London], [Oct 2024]
  • Now & Then, [VAS], [Edinburgh], [Aug 2024]

Awards & Recognition

  • Shortlisted Women in Art Prize 2025

  • Finalist Portrait Photographer of the Year 2024, 2025, 2026  IPPVA

Professional Experience

  • Artist | Self-Employed | [4 Years Active]
  • Creative Headshot Photographer | Self-Employed | [ 7 Years Active]
  • Family Portrait Photographer | Self-Employed | [7 Years Active]

Workshops & Community Engagement

  • International Women's Day 2025 - photography project with Wicklow County Partnership & Rathnew Womens Social Inclusion Network - public exhibition of portraits.
  • Planned community project with Arklow Women's Shed 2025 culminating in public exhibition
  • Volunteer Photographer with Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep [NILMDTS], a charity providing remembrance photography to parents experiencing the death of a baby.


Certifications

  • Licentiateship Irish Professional Photographer & Videographer Association
  • PgCert Therapeutic Photography ℅ Neil Gibson, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen
  • European Certificate in Essential Palliative Care, Milford Hospice, Limerick
  • Professional Certificate in Life Coaching, College of Management & IT
  • Diploma in Humanistic & Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy, Tivoli Institute
  • Higher Diploma in Oncological Nursing, UCD
  • Registered General Nurse, Adelaide Hospital, Dublin