Faculty of Art

Drawing and Painting

Shannon Sandwell

Community

Panoramic Installation

“Growing up, I was isolated. This isolation and otherness consumed my formative years as a queer, addict with mental health issues. I only began to heal and become a functioning member of various communities, through connecting with others. Historically figurative painting has been used to fetishize differences, implement the gaze, and allow voyeurism. This work does the opposite. Community surrounds the viewer, and the audience becomes a part of this moment of joy and connection. Looking to Claude Monet’s panoramic installation of The Waterlilies (1927) for inspiration, I have created a half-panorama rotunda of moments from my life —using the scale to invite and defamiliarize these small moments to highlight their importance, and the loose canvas as a blanket to hold the viewer. Community is an action of gratitude for the communities I am a part of. The identities I used to believe kept me separate are what fostered all these communities that kept me alive within moments of struggle. This painting honours my communities by sharing them in hopes that I can inspire others to cherish the intimacy they get from their fellows. While we embrace the healing that is human connection, we can break down the barriers that hold us apart”