2019 Juror
Shannon Long
Shannon Long has both an MFA and BFA in Ceramic Arts. Born in Texas, raised in Arizona, and settled in Colorado, he’s been a practicing, professional artist for more than 30 years. His efforts are consistently informed by his observations of flora, fauna, and the change brought about by the struggles of all the things in the world that grow, survive, and ultimately die. Creating the feeling that an object, like a wild animal, will dart away when you remove your gaze is always at the top of his list of artistic goals. Curiously seductive, playfully referential, potentially emotional: he keeps all these things in mind when working on new pieces. He explores the attraction we are capable of having to inanimate objects by referencing the human body, shapes that vaguely resemble anything we associate with flora and fauna, and colors and textures that he feels may be associated with emotions or instincts.