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About Shannon
Shannon Maisel received her B.A. in Art and Anthropology from Centre College and her M.F.A. in painting from Kendall College of Art and Design. She is a juried Professional Artist Member of Studio Art Quilt Association's. Her work is collected and shown both nationally and internationally. She is a mother of two beautiful children and one loving angel. Shannon lives in Allendale, MI with her husband Sebastian and their children.Shannon spends her days working in her studio. Previous to being a full time artist at Shannon Maisel Art Studio, she founded the art program at Thuringea International School, Germany where she taught KG thru 8th grade for two years. During this time, she spent evenings giving private art lessons to both children and adults. She has also worked as a substitute art teacher in Saudi Arabia and has spent multiple summers teaching art to children through the Kids College Program in Somerset, KY. As a returned Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras, community involvement is important to Shannon. She volunteers with the Girl Scouts of America and the Allendale Quilt Guild.
About Shannon's Work
My work deconstructs the other. I focus primarily on concepts of identity that create the tension between the individual and the other such as culture and economics, gender and sexual preference, history and politics, language and place, race and religion. Hierarchy throughout history continues to influence societal norms. What is considered acceptable in one culture might not be valued at the same level in another. This variance of ideals creates the other. As an artist in my late teens and early 20s I was interested in malleability of identity, the metamorphous from youth to adult in human nature and its relationship to society. In my late 20s my focus shifted from transitioning identity to gender and identity. By concentrating on gender, I was able to incorporate traditional elements of womens work often overlooked in the art world as fine art into my pieces. In my early 30s, my interests in identity and the other continued, however culture and identity become the driving force in my art. I was able to create imagery that one could perceive as not from here by implementing more patterns from around the world. Currently, I continue to deconstruct the other through visual devices. Within my work, specific historic signifiers for strength, power and hope are used in conjunction with patterns, flowers, positioning the figures, and quilt blocks to create a visual dialogue about the other (identity). I am juxtaposing realism and pattern to create a visual hierarchy. I am combining technical painting skills like direct and indirect painting with sewn imagery. I am using historically based art imagery with current events. I encourage the viewer to question their cultural bias by combining in my work information easily identifiable to mainstream Western culture with signifiers from minority groups to remind the viewer that we are all someones other.
copyright 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Shannon Maisel,LLC
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