Shannon Meadows

I make work that investigates the fragility and fury of the human state through both figurative and landscape imagery. With figurative subjects, I explore gender and social inequities found in personal and corporate relationships where women or the unempowered are pervasively denigrated. Landscapes depict the indifferent power of nature to heal or to harm. The dialog between these genres contrasts human passion with life’s relentless impermanence.

Feral marks, broken lines, and ragged edges made with myriad tools imbue the ink and paint with reflections on my own experiences and the emotional anguish and absurdity found in asymmetrical relationships. Hazy focus in a balanced palette of saturated hues and neutrals nod to the possibility of a positive cultural metamorphosis to subvert binary gender hierarchies. Figurative reference material is based on news photos or generic images used for corporate marketing and training, emphasizing incongruity. Some landscapes are inspired by my own photography.

In evolving from a lengthy career as a female technology executive, required to go along to get along within the business world, I find myself now wanting to speak out. I have evolved from the safety of the observer to the front lines of the revolution. Though my work highlights power disparities, it also carries an undercurrent of optimism and my belief in personal resilience in the face of adversity. Silence and compliance are no longer possible, so I tear at the cultural packaging to expose what lies below.

Artist Shannon Meadows is a technology industry escapee based in Northern California.

After a successful career as an EdTech sales and marketing executive, she now pursues her artistic passion full time. As an undergrad, Shannon practiced her creativity through writing fiction and improvisational dance. She began painting in 2000, seeking balance with her demanding profession. Shannon studied oil painting privately prior to attending Savannah College of Art and Design in 2022 as a master’s in fine arts candidate.

Shannon’s initial love was oil painting, producing work with saturated hues and shimmering textures that enrich meaning beyond the subject matter. More recent work utilizes the versatility of mixed media with ink, acrylic and cottage. Shannon explores social themes of power dynamics through her figurative work. Landscapes, inspired by the beauty of Coastal California and the Sierra Nevada, contemplate the human response to the vastness of nature: spiritual awakening, awe, aloneness and transience. Her work has been shown in solo and group juried exhibitions throughout California and has won numerous awards and contests.

Influences for her work are the bold colors found in the Fauves and the enigmatic work of the Bay Area Figurative artists of the mid-20th Century. She relates to the vision of contemporary painters and photographers, many of them women, who incorporate irreverence and social satire in their art. Shannon admires the artist Philip Guston, who aptly described the indescribable, the act of art making through painting:

“What is seen and called the picture is what remains-an evidence.
Even as one travels in painting towards a state of ‘unfreedom’ where
only certain things can happen, unaccountably the unknown and free
must appear …
In this sense, to paint is a possessing rather than a picturing.”

-Phillip Guston, from Statement in Twelve Americans,
1956

Education
BA, English, Creative Writing, Minor in Computer Science, University of Texas at Austin, TX
Attended Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, California
Attended University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
MFA Candidate, Painting, Savannah College of Art and Design, Class of 2025

Solo Exhibitions
2024 Artist in Residence Exhibition, Reichwage Winery, Sebastopol, CA, Invitational.
2023 SOLO, First Federal Savings and Loan, Fairfax, CA. Invitational
2020 SOLO, St. Stephens Episcopal Church, Belvedere, CA. Curated by St. Stephen’s Art Commission, Invitational.
2019 BREAKING THROUGH, Mill Valley Community Center, Mill Valley, CA. Curated by Mill Valley Arts Commission, Invitational.
2011 LEAVING LOS ANGELES, Private Home, Sherman Oaks, CA. Invitational.
2009 SOUL SUSTENANCE, tV,1arco’s Restaurant, West Hollywood, CA. Invitational.
STUDIO SALON: ONE WOMAN, Art Experience Gallery, Studio City, CA. Curated by Susan Manders, Artist, Invitational.

Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 MARIN SOCETY OF ARTISTS – WINTER BLUES, San Rafael, CA. Members show. Awards juried by Michael Friedland – Received Second Prize for Sentinels of Tomales Bay
2023 AZGOUR ART GROUP, SUMMER VIRTUAL EXHIBITION, Virtual members show. Juried by members of Azgour Art Group – Received First Prize for Power Glitch
2023 MARIN SOCIETY OF ARTISTS – CALIFORNIA DREAMING, San Rafael, CA. Juried by Julie Zener, Julie Zener Gallery – Received Honorable Mention for Convict, Invitational.
2023 FIRE SAFE MARIN – EMBER STOMP, Ember Stomp Festival and Marin Civic Center Public Art, San Rafael, CA. Juried by Emabet Korn, Desta Gallery, Invitational.
2023 MARIN SOCIETY OF ARTISTS – FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING, Members show. San Rafael, CA. Juried by Evri Kwong, Artist
2022 MARIN SOCIETY OF ARTISTS – COLORS, San Rafael, CA. Juried by Karen Leoni, Artist. Curated, Invitational.
2021 MARIN SOCIETY OF ARTISTS – EXPRESSIONS, National online juried show. Juried by Randall Sexton, Artist. Curated, Invitational.
2017 MARIN OPEN STUDIOS, Mill Valley CA.
2009 HOLIDAY ART AND OPEN HOUSE, Lotus Post, Santa Monica, CA. Curated by Michael Perricone, Invitational.
2008 I CANDY, Art Experience Gallery, Studio City, CA. Curated. Invitational.
2007 THE INSPIRATION COLLECTIVE, Art Experience Gallery, Studio City, CA. Curated by Susan Manders, Invitational.
2006 POP THE ART, Art Experience Gallery, Studio City, CA. Curated by Susan Manders, Invitational.

Festivals
2018 MILL VALLEY FALL ARTS FESTIVAL, Mill Valley,CA, Juried, Invitational.

Commissions
Marin Center for Independent Living, Angels by the Bay Gala, Sponsored by a Private Donation, January 2015

Selected Collectors
Chris Dorman and Antonette Greene, Mill Valley, CA
Madeleine and Dirk Langeveld, Corte Madera, CA
Jeff Norby and Avis Shapiro, Sonoma, CA
Mary Norby, Lake Forest, CA
Denise and Ed Miller, Kent Woodlands, CA
Heather Morrow, Alta Dena, CA
George arid Deborah Gilbert, Long Beach, CA
Nora and Michael Perricone, Pacific-Palisades, CA
Dr. Elfreda Massie, Bowie, MD
Dr. Ellen Wagner and Anne Derryberry, Sonoma, CA
Laura Jane Agnew, Austin, Texas
Leslie and Bob Stonick, Long Beach, CA
Joan Emison, Cambridge, MA