new studio... new work...

News

Sorry, I don't have any new work to post right now. I do have some news though...

August first I'll be heading to Perth, Australia for a short visit to plan and prepare for the internship I'll be starting next year. The internship will be with Berenice Rarig an will be for 11 months.

The day after I get home from Perth I will start teaching at Friend's University. I was offered and accepted 2 adjunct positions this afternoon. The first is an aesthetic/art appreciation course for non-art majors, the second is a intro photography class.

Hopefully, new work will be ready to post sooner, rather than later... more in progress stuff if nothing else.

Works in progress/Works on paper

(detail)

That's "Master Shannie" to you!

Well, it's official. I passed the oral defense of my thesis exhibit. I have my Masters of Fine Art in painting! The show opens tomorrow evening. Graduation is May 16th.

This week has been kind of surreal.

A sneak peek

Here are a few pics or the paintings installed on campus. The pics aren't great, but it is nice to see them on the wall and next to each other. Installation at the gallery happens this week!

Bakers dozen yellow roses



Bed and breakfast trousseau



Don't have a title for this one yet

It's all happening

Half butter, half shrotening


Warm iron as needed


To be determined


For sunlight after shadows


Predecessor (irritant)

I've been working on titles today. Normally I don't use titles, but in this case I think the could give the viewer a nudge in the direction I want them to go. A few working titles I'm kicking around...

Precedent (knit, pearl)
Eagle brand anticipation
Historical fiction saves the day
Preservation (traps)
Miss, Ms, Mrs.
Invariably a strain on all
Unfruitful charms
Encircle with your arms
Customary Trinket
Walnut grove to Pemberly
Keep the fighting arm free
Gold and bubbly
To be determined
Half butter, half shortening
And repeat
Warm iron as needed
Often embarrassing and not appropriate

And some new paintings...

More exploration

In the process of developing a rich and fleshy surface and thinking about the metaphorical implications of surface I began to wonder about pulling back surfaces. What happens when one layer is removed, melted, burnt, pealed away?

Here's what happened in a few small explorative works...

Exploration... Not "playing"

Wax has a preserving quality. I am exploring this quality through suspending things in the wax. As the wax dries and hardens the items I add into it are kept between layers of wax, preserved and trapped. The items I suspend in the wax are decorative... lace, sequins, beads

New work coming soon...

But for now, just the statement.


My work looks through a domestic lens at patterns of social and behavioral expectations and how those labels interfere with the pursuit of individuality. By using visual patterns from traditionally domestic and decorative elements, such as textiles, wallpaper, plate ware, and furniture I draw attention back to the home and to the “women’s roles” within that home in order to challenge these notions. Patterns are used to draw attention to surface, both literally and metaphorically.

Many of the social patterns I am looking at address “women’s roles.” These pattern, be it inherited through culture or family, perceived, self created, often deals with appearance. Individuality is often suppressed so that the desired appearance is achieved. For this reason, I create a rich surface to be the foundation for the visual patterns I use. The surface emerges as both decorative and flesh-like, feeding directly into the idea of appearances.

My work and process inform each other greatly, they each reveal things about the other. The process of repetition is central to my work. This activity is largely domestic and for me parallels the build up of experiences that unveil our social expectations and norms.

More new work

newest paintings

My work looks at the patterns of social and behavioral expectation in relationship to individuality, particularly as it exists within the home. Though appropriated visual patterns from traditionally domestic decorative elements, such as fabric; wallpaper, plate ware, and furniture I draw attention back to the home and “women’s roles” in order to reconfigure these notions. The patterns are replicated at times with deviations from them, be it slight or extreme. The pattern is then layered expressive marks to illustrate the building up of experiences with expectations and norms. It is through the building up of these layers referencing both the experiential and the normative and the merging for these entities that an analogy of personal experience and learning how to express individuality and reconciling with social norms is created. Leaving the viewer to ask the question, do we as individuals adapt ourselves to the expected, or adapt the expectation to ourselves?