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Shannon Cruz Visual Arts 2017-2021

Hello, my name is Shannon Cruz. I was raised in South Florida and moved to New Orleans, LA 4 years ago where I attend Tulane University. In May I will receive a BS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a Dual Degree in Studio Art, painting emphasis. Art has been a part of my life since I can remember. My dad was helping my go above and beyond on all the school art projects I've been assigned since kinder garden. I learned a lot from him, and to further develop my skills attended visual arts focused middle and high school. These environments pushed me to challenge myself artistically from a very young age, and develop the core technical skills needed to take my practice further at the college level. Lately, my inspiration comes mostly from the material I study in my biology classes, but the laid back, beachside environment of Lake worth Beach, FL, and the sprawling live oaks and funky art culture of New Orleans, Louisiana has influenced the style and mood of my work. While at Tulane, I have developed my skills in oil painting, ceramics, glassblowing, printmaking, bookbinding and illustration. I do commissions as well, most often portraits of pets and people.

2020 - 2021 Work and Artist’s Statement

My recent work is concerned with recording, explaining, and presenting objective biology through the subjective filter of my artistic perspective. As a student, I am exploring the fields of both visual arts and ecological biology. This body of work represents the beginning of what I imagine will be a lifetime merger of these two fields. I aim to accurately depict and deliver information about my subject matter, while maintaining that it is art and not something out of a textbook or museum diorama. To me, the difference between art and a diorama is similar to the difference between the words extraordinary and ordinary. When you really think about the two words, you realize that extraordinary just means something that has moved past itself to become more. While, in my estimations, museum dioramas aim to depict an organism exactly how it was for educational purposes– I want to produce something more, but that still maintains its biological identity. When I say more, I could mean more color, more stylization, more emphasis on the aspects that I find beautiful and captivating. I suppose the “more” is the piece of myself most visible in my often objective subject matter. But the “more-ness” doesn’t necessarily come from inside of me, it comes from the world around me, changing how I view everything I encounter, and in turn affecting my art. A delicate pattern on the back of a beetle shell here, the indescribably deep shades of blue, green, grey, and purple in a storm cloud there – there is extraordinariness in everything nature has produced. And it’s all at risk! Humans are draining the magic from the land as assuredly as if we stuck a straw into it. I want people to see what we are ruining, see the more in the non-human kin around us. I accomplish this primarily through my use of color, which is often supersaturated. The vivid colors of my pieces are doing their best to reflect the hues present in everyday life that go unnoticed by most. I want to emphasize the beauty of these colors and forms that is in part what made me so passionate about the environment to begin with. I most often use oil paints and colored pencil to produce the rich colors I want to relay in my work. My hope is that if more people learn to notice how exquisite the natural world around them is, that they will be more willing to go out of their way to care for it.

Anguillidae
Anguillidae
Belontidae
Belontidae
Centrarchidae
Centrarchidae

Biological Illustrations and Field Journals

Ichthyology

Ichthyology illustrations 1, colored pencil on index card, 2020
Ichthyology illustrations 2, colored pencil on index card, 2020
Ichthyology illustrations 3, colored pencil on index card, 2020

Ornithology

Sandhill Crane, Ink and colored pencil on toned paper, 2020
Tufted titmouse, colored pencil and ink, 2020
Ornithology field notes 1, ink and colored pencil, 2020
Ornithology field notes 2, Ink and colored pencil, 2020
Ornithology field notes 3, ink and colored pencil, 2020
Ornithology field notes 4, ink and colored pencil, 2020
Ornithology field notes 5, ink and colored pencil, 2020

Mycology

Mycology spread 1, Ink and colored pencil, 2020
Mycology spread 2, ink and colored pencil, 2020
Mycology spread 3, ink and colored pencil, 2020
Mycology spread 4, ink and colored pencil, 2020

Paintings

Specimen, Oil on BFK, Fall 2020, still life series 1/4
Plant Friends, Oil on BFK, Fall 2020, still life series 2/4
In the Studio, Oil on BFK, Fall 2020, still life series 3/4
Rosy Light, Oil on BFK, Fall 2020, still life series 4/4
Self Portrait in Orange and Blue, Oil on BFK, Fall 2020
Stressed and Compressed, Oil on BFK, Fall 2020
Rifle River, Oil on Canvas, 2019
Whistling Duck Party, Oil on BFK, Spring 2018
Green House, Oil on BFK, Spring 2018
Hawaiian Landscapes, Oil on Canvas Paper, Fall 2018

Sculpture

Ichthyology Sculptures

Oil on Polymer clay, Fall 2021
Oil on Polymer Clay, 2021

Soap

Love You Like Only a Mother Could, Soap, December 2021

Glass Vessels

Ceramic Mugs

Angry Mug, Ceramics, Fall 2019
Sad Mug, Ceramics, Fall 2019
Happy Mug detail, Ceramics, Fall 2019

Ceramic Figurines

Shy Parrot, Ceramics, Fall 2018
Sexy Dear, Ceramics, Fall 2018
Lazy Ant, Ceramics, Fall 2018

Commission

Portraits

the Thatos family, Oil on Wood, 2021
Gizmo and Friend, Oil on canvas board, April 2020
G, Oil Pastel on paper, 2019
Dragonfly, watercolor on BFK, 2019
Griffin, Oil on BFK, 2019
Wesely, Oil on BFK, 2019
Orange Kitty, Oil on Canvas, 2019
Created By
Shannon Cruz
Appreciate