SHarman Feinberg

Sharman Feinberg is a Melbourne based artist whose art practice explores themes of ‘home’, ‘suburbia’, ‘human connection’ and ‘nature’. She is inspired by the world around her and documents everyday activities and situations. A narrative thread is evident in her compositions. 

As a mature-aged student she completed a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) at Monash University in 1983 and a Master of Visual Arts, Monash University in 2005. Feinberg’s thesis for her Bachelor of Arts was: ‘The Artists of Angst’ and the thesis for the Master of Visual Arts was ‘Flowers and their symbolism throughout history.’ Feinberg has had twelve solo exhibitions and has also been included in twelve group exhibitions ranging from Printmaking, Portraiture, Still Life and Landscape/Urban Landscape. 

Feinberg has been a finalist in the 2010 Great Southern Portrait Prize, La Trobe Regional Gallery South Gippsland; in the 2019 John Lesley Prize, Gippsland Art Gallery; in the 2019 STILL National Still Life Prize,Yarilla Arts and Museum, Coffs Harbour; in the 2019 Lester Prize, Art Gallery of Western Australia; in the 2021 and 2022 Tacit Still Life Prize, Collingwood and in the 2026 Omnia Art Prize, St Kevin’s College, Toorak.

Feinberg uses strong expressive, arbitrary colour in her paintings and uses it to convey mood and atmosphere. She also has a fondness for patternmaking. Dynamic rhythms are juxtaposed with areas of fine detail. Her influences are the Expressionists: Vincent Van Gogh, Chaim Soutine, Edvard Munch and Gabriele Munter. More contemporary influences are the late David Hockney and Geoffrey Smart.