Artist Statement

Through distinctive floral imagery, and sometimes overtaking environments, my work hopes to enlighten the viewers of the intrinsic connection we have to nature and each other.  Just as we are all connected to each other through nature, all of my artworks are connected through floral elements.  As a painter working with water-based paints, screen printing, drawing, and sewing, these mediums come together through gradually built up layers.  I create because I need to - the work is the raw expression of my inner world and deepest self.  My work focuses on the ways in which we are all connected, emotionally and socially.  While my individual paintings often dive into the collective unconscious, documenting similarities in the inner psyche, my installation environments - built of handmade mixed media paintings, serve as literal otherworldly meeting places - fantastic environments which bring all types of people together.

Bio

Born in Long Island, NY (1990),  Shapiro has a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University (2012), and spent a semester at Bilkent University in Ankara Turkey (2011).  She has completed artist residencies at Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, and the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles.  In Los Angeles, where she lives and works, Shapiro has had two solo shows with Radiant Space Gallery.   She has also shown with Mars Gallery in Chicago.  Shapiro was the recipient of an Artists’ Fellowship Grant, Center for Cultural Innovation Grant, Vibrant Cities Art Grant, and was awarded a fellowship at American Jewish University.   In addition, Shapiro’s installations have been commissioned for the City of San Luis Obispo with the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, Otherworld, and Coffee World.  Her paintings are in public and private collections, including the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles and Bilkent University.