Sharon Irla

Sharon Irla (born 1957) is a Cherokee artist, enrolled in the Cherokee Nation. A self-taught artist, Irla began entering competitive art shows in 2003. Her collective body of works span the fields of painting, murals, graphics, photography, and custom picture frames with Southeastern Woodlands / Mississippian motifs. The majority of her awarded works are oil-on-canvas portraits of Cherokee women in both contemporary and historical settings.

Themes

Irla's most prevalent body of works are oil portraits of Native American women in both contemporary and historical settings. Her stated mission is to emphasize the complexity and importance of Native American women, thereby filing a perceived void in the artistic record.

"Throughout history," Irla notes, "Native American women have been depicted in art far less often than Native American men, yet women played at least as important a role. For instance, the Cherokee used to have a Council of Women, and some Cherokee women, like Nanyehi (Nancy Ward), rose to the honored status of "Beloved Woman", or "War Woman". These women rendered considerably weighty tribal decisions, but we don't find paintings of any of them."

Technique As a self-taught artist, Irla cites Caravaggio as being most influential toward the development of her own method, which she describes as "a combining of dramatic illumination and Old Masters technique."

She assisted GaDuGi artists (Bill Glass, Gary Allen, Demos Glass, Robby McMurtry, and Ken Foster) with "The Passage," an outdoor art installment at Ross Landing in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was through Ross Landing that many Cherokee made passage to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) during the Trail of Tears. Irla has since won awards in multiple Native American, competitive art shows.

Honorable Mention - 2003 Home Coming Art show, Cherokee Heritage Center, Park Hill, OK - She Was A Warrior Best of Category (paintings) - 2007 Cherokee Art Market, Catoosa, OK - Cherokee Beauty Best Of Category (paintings) - 2007 Trail Of Tears Art Show, Park Hill, OK - Cherokee Beauty Chief's Choice - 2007 Cherokee Nation Holiday Art Show, Park Hill, OK - Cherokee Beauty 1st Place - 2007 Cherokee National Holiday Art Show, Park Hill, OK - Tellico Mysteries First Place - 2008 Cherokee National Holiday Art Show, Park Hill, OK - Crows Stirring The Magic Speaker Of The Council Award - 2008 Cherokee National Holiday Art Show, Park Hill, OK - Crows Stirring The Magic Peoples' Choice - 2008 Five Civilized Tribes Museum, Muskogee, OK - Mother's Prayer 1st Place - 2009 Trail of Tears Art Show, Park Hill, OK - Mississippian Ink Best of Show - 2009 Cherokee Holiday Art Show, Park Hill, OK - Beloved Woman of the Cherokee 1st Place - 2009 Southeastern Art Show (Chickasaw Nation), Ada, OK - Crows Stirring The Magic