Shannon Cannings

Lives and works in Lubbock, TX, USA

Artist statement

Until recently, my work explored gun culture. Marketing, pop imagery, nostalgia, and play were important themes. My once quiet, isolated plastic guns moved from contemplative object to louder packaging, to shrink wrapping, to mylar reflections. As our news cycle gets louder and more chaotic, and our understanding of truth is more distorted by AI and infotainment, my artwork has changed with it. “Distortions” borrows a chaotic striped camouflage pattern called “Razzle Dazzle” from Naval ships in World War I and classic shooting targets. I use mylar in my studio to disrupt the graphic patterns, stretching and pulling them across flat panels. In some pieces, the mylar itself, once a tool for distorting objects, has become the object. Some of the pieces have dropped even the stripes and depict just the mylar balloons, reflecting and distorting reality in their puckers and wrinkles. As I am ordering the chaos, I am embracing uncomfortable confusion, allowing some to become clearer objects, and some to celebrate the turmoil.

Artwork