Bio
Shannon O'Deens is an interdisciplinary artist based in New York City. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, she graduated from the University of Cincinnati, DAAP in 2022 with a BA in art history and a BFA in painting. While her main area of focus is painting, much of her work bleeds into other mediums. Research is an important part of her practice and much of her work is supported by her study of art history. Shannon's work deals with themes of memory, intimacy and connection.
Artist Statement
My work starts with memory. The broad concept, the intimate details, something stuck in the back of my mind, or whatever other aspect of the past haunts me at any given time. Placing figures in cerebral, dream-like spaces, filled with organic forms and soft edges, allow me to explore challenging and often intangible experiences. My work explores our relationship with our bodies, the spaces around us, the people closest to us, and our past. In the work cold blues are contrasted by harsh, angry reds and warmed by hopeful pinks. The spaces are cold but never devoid of any warmth. The paintings are lonely, my figures finding safety in the solitude. Themes of grief and intimacy pervade the work. The act of making becomes an exercise in vulnerability and connection. I examine women’s unseen emotional labor. How it impacts my life and that of the women around me and what it means to play the caregiver. How once that role is taken it can be near impossible to extricate oneself from. I grapple with questions around how we adapt to survive and struggle to gain independence from our past. Mourning is also present. For innocence, for relationships, and for those lost in the whirlwind of growing up.
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Education
University of Cincinnati, College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP)
Bachelor of Arts, Art History, Focus in Modern and Contemporary Art
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Focus in Painting
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Solo Exhibitions
2022 Mourning Flowers, Tabula Rasa Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
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Group Exhibitions
2024 The Road Ahead, RIVAA Gallery, New York, NY
2022 Not Quite Seen, 1628 Ltd., Cincinnati, OH
2022 DAAP Works, Reed Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2022 Cry About It, Tabula Rasa gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2022 New Woman, Annex Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2021 Collective Connection, Tabula Rasa Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2020 Contemporary Artifact, Tabula Rasa Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2020 Represented, Tabula Rasa Online Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2020 International Sculpture Day, Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park, Cincinnati, OH
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Lectures
"Winold Reiss’ Union Terminal Murals and their Contemporary Counterparts" Art as a Catalyst for Global Understanding: A Student Symposium on Public Art | April 7, 2022
“To Live in Spite of Evil”: Anselm Kiefer’s Monsalvat (1996) and the Redemption of German Identity Post World War II, 11th annual Riess Undergraduate Art History Colloquium, Wright State University, (Dayton, Ohio) | November 21, 2020
“To Live in Spite of Evil”: Anselm Kiefer’s Monsalvat (1996) Gallery Talk, Cincinnati Art Museum| February 23, 2020
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Curatorial Projects
“Then I am Praying”: War, Religion, and Shared Suffering in the Pechstein and Kollwitz Prints at the University of Cincinnati Art Collection, Senior Seminar Exhibition of Prints from the Universtity of Cincinnati Art Collection, Planned Spring 2023
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Awards
2022 Directors Choice, College of DAAP
2018-2022 Dean’s List, College of DAAP
2017-2022 Cincinnatus Scholarship, University of Cincinnati
2020-2022 Jonathan Riess Scholarship, College of DAAP
2019-2020 Kristi A. Nelson Scholarship in Art History, College of DAAP
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