For the past 30 years my studio practice has focused mainly on social issues important to me- gun violence, politics, death customs - but has also covered certain subjects, based on a variety of academic research, that might be described under the category “Cabinet of Curiosities”.
Most all of my series have embraced TEXT as IMAGE. As a lapsed English major, I not only incorporate text and illuminate words, but also commemorate odd adages and quotations.
My work is known for its unique and quirky approach, with an encyclopedic mindset, and is always about MESSAGING. Working with a bright, textured palette, combined with sometimes controversial subject matter, there is a purposeful seductive/repellent aspect at play.
My sgraffito technique, involving multi-layers of media scratched through with various tools, invites close-up inspection.
…….quand je me heurte á quelque chose que je ne puis changer, que je ne peux résoudre, que je ne peux redresser, je l’élimine. Je l’évacue dans un livre. Apres je ne suis pus oppressé. Je dors mieux.
Romain Gary, author, activist, French consul
Chien Blanc
France, 1970
…….when I run into something I am unable to change, that I cannot resolve, that I cannot make better, I eliminate it. I expel it out into a book. Afterwards I no longer feel stressed. I sleep better.
Romain Gary, White Dog
E. (Mur) Sherman Hayman is a Philadelphia-based mixed media artist who specializes in the technique of sgraffito: multi-layering of wax/oil crayons and iridescent oil pastels, then using various tools to scratch through, thus creating texture, pattern, and some pretty innovative colors. She uses black museum board as a base, and often incorporates manipulated balsa wood for added dimension.
Hayman was born in Newport News, VA, attended Hollins College (now Hollins University), and studied art in Paris, where she lived for two years. She then moved to Philadelphia to attend The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
Major exhibitions over the past years include those at Cerulean Arts, Philadelphia; Goggleworks, Reading, PA: Lake Eustis Museum of Art, Florida; Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia; James Oliver Gallery, Philadelphia; Franz Bader Gallery, Washington D.C; and Arlington Arts Center, Virginia. Selected group shows and invitationals include “Nursery Rhymes for Questionable Times” at InLiquid-Crane Arts, Philadelphia; “Deconstructing Bowie” and “Philadelphia Freedom”, The National Liberty Museum, Philadelphia; “One Nation”, The Heller Museum, NYC; Art in City Hall, Philadelphia), Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia; and The Philadelphia Foundation (with the Philadelphia Art Alliance).
Hollins College (Hollins University), Hollins, VA
Private instruction, Paris, France
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
"The National Liberty Museum honors David Bowie's legacy" The Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/23/23.
“Big Thoughts, Tiny Packages” (Art in City Hall, ‘Small Sculpture’), Theartblog.org, February 5, 2017.
"Murica at PhilaMOCA",Theartblog.org, July 23, 2014.
Online review and photo - "Message & Medium at PhilaMOCA", Knight Arts Foundation, March 8, 2012.
"Art Tackles Death", Pulse Magazine, Florida, Fall 2011.
Cole, Christine, "War, death, love, sex.....", Orlando Sentinel, September 30, 2011.
"All Small Redux", burnaway.org, March 2, 2009.
Fox, Catherine, "All Small Redux", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 27, 2009.
Donohoe, Victoria, "Abington Art Center", The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 15, 2003.
Fletcher, Juliet, "The Mark Portraits", The Philadelphia City Paper, May 29, 2003.
Rice, Robin, "Paper Chase", The Philadelphia City Paper, October 18, 2001.
Sozanski, Edward J. "Works on Paper", The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 5, 2001.
Fowler, Marie, "Tragic and Compelling", Arcade, Wayne, PA, May 17, 2001.
Sozanski, Edward J. "Paint and Pistols", The Philadelphia Inquirer, January 22, 1999.
Wasserman, Burton, ARTFRONT installations, Art Matters, December, 1997.
Dorsey, Catherine, "PFAC", PortFolio Weekly, Virginia, July 29, 1997.
Donohoe, Victoria, "Works on Paper at Abington Art Center", The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 27, 1997.
Rice, Robin, "Just Jazz at Sande Webster", The Philadelphia City Paper, July 26, 1996.
Sozanski, Edward J. "Just Jazz", The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 19, 1996.
Rice, Robin, "Installation for the Home", The Philadelphia City Paper, July 28, 1995.
Donohoe, Victoria, "Color Now", The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 28, 1995.
Weinstein, Ann, "Art in View", "V" MAGAZINE, April, 1992.
Lake Eustis Museum of Art, Eustis, FL
The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA
The Scott Collection ofWomen Artists, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA
Progress Bank Corporate Headquarters, Huntsville, AL
E. I. DuPont de Nemours Corp, Wilmington, DE
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Pennsylvania
CIGNA, New York & Wilmington
The Breyer Collection, Philadelphia
The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA
2024
MARK MY WORDS, Box Spring Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2022
Cerulean Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2020
Cerulean Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2019
Cerulean Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2017
Cerulean Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2016
Goggleworks, Reading, PA
June - August
2011
Thanatos to Eros, Lake Eustis Museum of Art, Eustis, FL
2010 – 2011
Allegories and Allegiances, James Oliver Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2008
Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2007
Main Line Unitarian Gallery, Wayne, PA
2005
Arlington Arts Center (now The Museum of Contemporary Arts Arlington), Arlington, VA
2003
Abington Art Center, Abington, PA
1999
Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE
1998
Esther M. Klein Art Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1997
Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA
1994
Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
1992
Franz Bader Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1990
Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1988
Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1986
Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1984
Suzanne Gross Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1982
Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1981
Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2025
I SPY, Powell Lane Arts, Collingswood, NJ
2024
Voice of the People, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Materials Matte, Powell Lane Arts, Collingswood, NJ
Summer Breeze (Members and Friends Exhibition), Pictor Gallery, NY, NY
InLiquid Toasts 25, Off the Wall Gallery at Dirty Franks, Philadelphia, PA
Betsy Meyer Memorial Exhibition Retrospective, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
2023
It is Written, Powell Lane Arts, Collingswood, NJ
One Nation, Heller Museum, New York, NY
Deconstructing Bowie Pop-Up, National Liberty Museum, Philadelphia, PA
2022
Deconstructing Bowie, National Liberty Museum, Philadelphia, PA
2022
Nursery Rhymes for Questionable Times, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Paperswork, Powell Lane Arts, Collingswood, NJ
2020-21
Philly's Freedom, National Liberty Museum, Philadelphia, PA
2020
Thoughts & Prayers - Another Round of Vacant Stares, ShaShaMa Gallery, Matawan, NJ
2019
Visual Democracy, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition
2018
Summer of Love, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition
2017
Small Sculpture, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition
2016
The Fletcher Exhibit, Reece Museum, Johnson City, TN
Juried Exhibition
Art as Politics, Touchstone Gallery, Washington D.C.
Juried Exhibition
2014
'Murica, PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition
Step Into My Studio, Temple Judea Museum, Elkins Park, PA
2012
Message and Medium, PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition
Who We Are, Past and Present, Peninsula Fine Arts Association, Newport News, VA
2011
Square Foot Art Basel/Miami, through Projects Gallery
Juried Exhibition
The French Connection, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition
Little Treasures – Big Rewards, Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2010
Inside/Outside, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition
2009
A Book About Death, Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery, New York, NY
A Book About Death, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA
2007
Across & Between, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
Juried Exhibition
2006
New Work by Past Artists, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
2005
Functional Forms, Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Myth, Magic & Meaning, Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA
Juried Exhibition
2004
The Philadelphia Foundation Exhibition, presented by The Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
Curator: Barbara Wallace
Drawing Conclusions, Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD
Juried Exhibition
2003
Small Works, Attleboro Museum, Attleboro, MA
Juried Exhibition
2002-2003
15 Exposures, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Alumni, USArtists, Philadelphia, PA
2001
Works on Paper, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA
Juried Exhibition
2000
Art Works / Water Works, The Shops at Liberty Place, Philadelphia, PA
Fairmount Park Commission Invitational
Art of the State, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA
Juried Exhibition
Multiples, The Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
Juried Exhibition
1998
Patricia C. Phillips studio visit, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE
Brochure with essay
Juried Exhibition
1997-1998
Window installation, The Artfront Partnership, Philadelphia, PA
1997
Works on Paper Biennial, Abington Art Center, Abington, PA
1996
Just Jazz, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1995
Art of the State, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA
Juried Exhibition
Third prize
Color Now, The Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
Juried Exhibition
1994
Works by Women Artists, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA
1991
Secret Views, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
1990
Art Furniture – Furniture Art, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE
1988
Small Works, Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1985
Fragments Assembled, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
1984
Ten Philadelphia Artists, Villanova University, Villanova, PA
