Contemporary Works of Art by Shanna D’Antonio

Artist’s Statement

This work began as contemplation on the definition and idea of home as both a physical place and an emotional reaction. Home, for me, is a city filled with dichotomous forces of religion and crime, racism and open-minded creativity. Home is New Orleans, a city defined both by it’s cultural strengths and it’s crippling vulnerabilities. My paintings strive to convey the conflict of enjoying the sense of place that home brings versus the societal problems that we perpetually seek refuge from. Images of fragile birds and clouds combine with collaged elements that speak to subconscious conflict, a diverging of ideal and reality softly overlaid to hint at the personal experience. The resulting paintings impart a sense of wistful longing, without the loss of hope.