Shan Bryan-Hanson is an artist and curator of the art galleries at St. Norbert College, where she also teaches painting. She holds M.F.A. from the University of Montana and her paintings have been funded by the Percent for Art Program of the State of Montana, Direct Purchase Program of the Wisconsin Arts Board and the Peninsula Arts Association. Her curatorial and museum work has been funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Creation and Presentation Program of the Wisconsin Arts Board and the American Alliance of Museums. Her art is in both private and public collections and has been exhibited in regional and national exhibitions.
Artist Statement
I’m interested in the objectness of painting; the boundaries of a frame, the tactile messiness and possibilities of oil paint. The departure point for a new painting lies in the piece that came before it and/or an experience in nature. Notions of impermanence, ephemerality and transience are embedded in both process and subject.
Currently, I’m working on two related bodies of work, one in which abstraction is the sole language. The second body of work more directly references forms from the natural world including leaves, petals, and other organic objects. Of special interest are objects such as seed and pod forms that simultaneously hold the beginning and end of the life cycle. This body of paintings represents the intersection of nature, contemplative practice and abstraction.
