Images become stories in the hands of collage artist Sharon Styer

In the world of Sharon Styer’s collages, one face melts into another. Perspectives shift. People fall from the sky.

In the layers of images the Tacoma artist assembles, and sometimes embroiders, there are stories, there’s humor, and there are points to be made.

“I have a lot of images that I’ve gathered for years. I’ll find an image that is very strong, and it captures me,” said Styer, who has a solo exhibition opening Friday in Olympia and whose work is also on view at Tacoma Community College. “I’ll lay it out on my desk and start playing with it. I wait, and a story will develop, and I just let it develop until I feel that it’s become clear.”

She often sees stories about misogyny, she said, and about aging, both topics included in the Olympia exhibition, happening at Harlequin Productions’ State Theater during the run of the farce-within-a-farce “Noises Off,” which opens Friday.

“A lot of times, it’s women’s issues,” she told The Olympian. “I’m an older woman, and we just really haven’t gotten very far with a lot of things. It’s a frustration in me, so it comes out in my artwork.”

Among the 21 works at the State Theater are ones called “I wasn’t quite what he wanted” and “Mom told us to wait right here, but she’s been gone for hours.”

The piece she has in the Tacoma show, “Invasive Species,” has two titles: “We Sinners Tossed from Heaven” and “When the Gods Leave, Do You Think They Turn and Make a Farewell Gesture of Regret?”

“A little bit of Monty Python crept into that one,” she said.

Indeed, there’s a playfulness to many of her images.

Her self-portrait at Harlequin shows her beaming face with a slightly too small body holding scissors and surrounded by stacks and stacks of valuable-looking volumes.

The collages are a good fit with “Noises,” said Harlequin marketing and communications director Helen Harvester, who’s also in the cast of the show.

“Corey McDaniel quoted Mark Twain in his Director’s Notes,” Harvester told The Olympian. “The quote ends, ‘Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.’ Sharon Styer’s collages mirror this philosophy, blending whimsy and humor with trenchant social commentary.

“They are a thought-provoking counterpoint to the slapstick farce we’re presenting on stage. “

Styer, a longtime photographer who took up collage two years ago, sees a resonance between her work and “Noises Off,” too.

She’s a big fan of the 1992 movie version, which starred Carol Burnett.

“It’s hysterical,” she said. “I am happy to have my work be part of this show, because I like humor quite a bit in my work.”

Sharon Styer solo show

• What: Thought-provoking collages by Styer of Tacoma are on view in the State Theater lobby during the run of Harlequin Productions’ “Noises Off.”
• When: Opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, with exhibition on view through Feb. 8. The lobby gallery will be accessible from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from noon to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and during Sunday matinees.
• Where: State Theater, 202 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia
• Tickets: Free
• More information: 360-786-0151, harlequinproductions.org
• More about Styer: Find out more about Styer’s art, upcoming exhibitions and collage workshops at sharon-styer.com.

‘Invasive Species’

• What: “Species,” the current exhibition at The Gallery at Tacoma Community College, includes one of Styer’s collages — and a dollhouse deconstructed by her son Miles Styer.
• When: Exhibition on view through Feb. 7. The Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays on days when the college is open.
• Where: Tacoma Community College, Building 4, near the corner of South 12th Street and Mildred Street, Tacoma
• Tickets: Free
• More information: 253-460-4306, tacomacc.edu/tcc-life/arts-culture/the-art-gallery