ShAy Black

Interview w/ ShAy Black

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ShAy Black grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, where she continues to live with her family. She’s a professional artist specializing in mixed media paintings and sculptures. Her creative roots began with the hair industry and naturally she grew a love for the fine arts. ShAy’s style of mixing texture with her paintings to build a visual history is utilized as a technique to give depth and interest in her artwork. Textures are a direct reflection for her love of sculpting. It mimics how tool marking and natural characteristics in raw metal gives sculptures character and life. She received a BFA from Converse College majoring in sculpture and ceramics.

ShAy says: "The images I paint are based on motherhood, the female body and children. As a mother and woman, my paintings deals with issues of separation, bonding, and a lifelong struggle of guilt for being a single parent and Soldier. I paint with the intentions of recapturing tender moments like first words, first steps, first day of schools. It’s my hope that I’m able to mimic visual memories of mother and child bonding through stages of life. I want these pieces not to feel that time lost was a tragedy but triumph."

To learn more about ShAy Black and her work you can visit her website iamshayblack.com