Red Lodge Clay Center – Short-Term Resident (AIA) 2024
Shane Harris is an active artist and educator. Since 2016, he has exhibited artwork in five solo and thirty group exhibitions, including at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana. His artwork has been acquired for both public and private collections. He is the recipient of six research awards including CLAS Scholarly Enhancement Award, which allowed him to pursue his technology in art research from 2018 to 2020.
In 2019 Harris presented, “Toying with the Tool”, at the National Council on the Education for Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference. He was published in five art journals and papers and has curated group exhibitions including “Small but Mighty” at Clay Squared Gallery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has served as the Art Advisor Chair and board member for the annual, “Springfield Old Capitol Art Fair” and is a board member for the Springfield Art Association.
Harris is currently an Associate Professor of Art, teaching Ceramics and Sculpture at the University of Illinois Springfield.
Art serves as my medium for expressing universal human experiences through symbolic objects. I delve into interpersonal themes such as intimacy, conflict, and communication, portraying a spectrum of emotions from passion to sadness. Employing small-scale dimensions, I evoke both physical and emotional intimacy, eliciting a profound psychological response from viewers. The size of my works mirrors that of cherished photographs, inviting personal connections and evoking nostalgic sentiments. Through abstraction in form and color, I convey broader symbolic meanings, enabling diverse interpretations and emotional resonance. Avoiding realistic depictions, I aim to simplify complex ideas and relationships, fostering deeper engagement with the content. The abstract nature of my pieces allows viewers to easily identify and connect with the subject matter, embracing its ambiguity. While phallic shapes may suggest sexuality, they represent broader dynamics within relationships, reflecting life’s complexities. Each artwork holds multiple layers of meaning, shaped by the viewer’s own life experiences and subjective interpretation.