BREANNA SHANAHAN

Breanna Shanahan is a sculptor whose practice revolves around people. Through processes of material and technical exploration she attempts to create sculptural metaphors of human interaction. Breanna’s latest works focus on the exploration of a CNC router. Her artistic process begins with the collection of lines, signatures and drawings from others that she manipulates with a computer program. She takes these signature lines and phrases and creates three-dimensional forms, which are then printed on various materials.  Through interpreting these submissions, Breanna plays with ideas of perspective, always having the last say in a pieces aesthetic form despite the variety of line interpretations that she receives from others.  This play with the machine is also a vital part of her current practice.

Mastery of a technology is a current obsession, however she cannot create with the technology alone. Breanna’s work needs to have an aspect of craft to it, and her pieces must have some form of laborious interaction with the artist whether it is in its finishing or in its blueprinting. Seeing how much she can manipulate that which is human; the signature lines and words, into that which is mechanical; creating symmetrical, grotesque, three-dimensional abstracted forms as a result of play. With a printing height of Max 2” she strives to cut and stack pieces that the machine was not initially meant to create. This printing process in layers has sparked a series of pieces that use the space in a way that would not seem obvious for a flat CNC printer.

Breanna Shanahan lives and works in the GTA. Recent exhibitions include UTSC’s Juried show ARTSIDEOUT 2014, where she received a Juror’s choice award, The Scarborough Civic Centre Rotunda’s Hybridity 2014, where she received two Juror’s choice awards, The Big Art Book 2014 at the Doris McCarthy Gallery, The Blackwood Gallery’s 2014 Graduate Exhibition - Up One Side + Down The Other, and UTAC’s Shelly Peterson Art Exhibition 2014. She will be showing in the Zen Gallery at the University of Toronto in 2015 and in the Resident Artist Show at the Mississauga Living Arts Centre Gallery March 2015. Breanna works with wood, casting and technology creating unique processes of making which toy with ideas of craft and ornamentation. Her piece B;AABCEFGJJJJJKKLLLSSSTT is currently part of the Sheridan College of Animation Art and Design’s collection. Breanna works as an assistant striker at the Living Arts Centre where she is a Resident Artist. She also volunteers as a Work-study Woodshop assistant technician at Sheridan College where she received her Fine Arts diploma. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Art and Art History from the University of Toronto where she has received several awards all geared towards Sculpture consecutively throughout her 4 year program.

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