Important thoughts

especially for people in art school....



"The work of a critique is easy."

Sneak Peek

Here's a little preview of some of the work in my show...


Syracuse Federal Shape, 2008, Acrylic on Board.




Knockoff Heirloom (detail), 2008, Acrylic and Teacups on Board.

"Artists Bio"

I had to write and artists bio this weekend to go in a press packet the gallery I'm working with is sending to the news paper. Here's what I came up with...

Shannon Johnston is currently working on her masters of fine art in painting at Wichita State University. Shannon relocated to Wichita from College Station, TX after having completed her undergraduate degree in art with an emphasis in painting at Belhaven College in Jackson, MS. Her work explores the visual, personal, and social patterns surrounding the feminine and domestic. Using the appropriated visual patterns of domestic objects, such as china and flatware, Shannon draws an analogy to an individuals experience of struggle with identity while still seeking to fit into a greater social scheme. Shannon, having lived a transient life thus far is largely influenced in this body of work my her own experiences with ever changing social expectations and the search for identity.

Coming Soon...

More Performance Pieces

My performance work circles around the ideas of looking "the" part. Through taking the private act of applying makeup and doing it publicly and repetitiously I am exposing the concealing quality of makeup. The work prompts the viewer to ask if these beauty rituals serve as a means of obtaining approval or hiding ones self.









Stills from live performance of "As pretty as ______ now?" January 25, 2008, ShiftSpace, Wichita, KS.

More of the same

Collaborative Performance Piece: Revisiting George Maciunas