The work of Shantell Martin is a meditation of lines; a language of characters, creatures and messages that invite her viewers to share a role in her creative process.
Part autobiographical, and part dreamlike whimsy, Martin has created her own world that bridges fine art, commercial projects, and the everyday experience — conversations, objects, and places.
Using her trademark – black ink and white surfaces – Martin’s illustrations transform everything from walls, found objects, ceramics, luxury goods, sneakers, and even faces into a visual narrative. Martin’s diverse portfolio illustrates her gift of navigating many worlds. Her commissions at Asia’s ultra-high end department store Lane Crawford and Y&R’s global headquarters were met with the same amount of fanfare as her first solo museum show in the spring of 2014.
“The question of who are you started as a very personal one for Shantell. She put up multiples of the question who are you on the back of her bedroom door, so that before she had even left her bedroom on some level would be asking herself if she was being true, if she was on the right path. Eventually Shantell was taken to the answer of YAY! You are You, but such questions should not come to a complete end. Shantell asked the question again in a different way, which took her to Are You You and You are who and so on.”
Martin recently was a visiting scholar at the MIT Media Lab and an adjunct professor at ITP, NYU. She deeply enjoys her volunteer work with schools and organizations like Apple Arts and Manhattan Apparel Project where she teaches kids to draw using their imaginations. She moved her studio to Tribeca in the spring of 2013.
You have Found the Found — the official home of Shantell Martin's creations and ideas located in downtown New York. Here you can discover limited edition screenprints, fine lithographs from Derrière L'Étoile Studios, interactive audio objects, and books.
