Shannon Schmidt
My work develops from a space of inquiry where social and political ideas merge with material processes, where the investigation and the pieces themselves fuse with histories, metaphors, symbols and the environments surrounding them. Spanning from personal experiences to research of environmental systems and philosophical modalities, I explore interconnected structures through drawing, painting, binding, knotting, winding, carving, language, video and sound. Using abstraction and fragmentation, I construct imagery and forms that investigate sensory experiences, connecting the physical with the psychological. Whether out of ink, paint, wire, yarn, fabric, wool or wood – the pieces that I produce reach toward an unorthodox or abject beauty that is bound by ritual, time, failure and imperfection. By linking together contrasting materials and physical environments, I create intersections between domestic practices and public social systems. In these overlapping moments, I seek to communicate metaphorical and abstract constructions between: object, body, memory and site.
For more information about the artist, please visit her website.