Sunday, February 7, 2010

Interview: Shannon Vassey

With a slight southern accent and the need to jump up and give you a hug, Shannon Vassey passes along her exuberant energy to all those she meets. A graduating senior in Fine Arts, she's currently putting the finishing touches on her thesis work.

Born in Columbus, Ohio but raised in South Carolina, Vassey remembers her first year as being hard to adjust to, stating that her previous art classes had been “too much of a free for all with no structure.” The CCAD campus, though, exposes all the freshman to an immense amount of art and structure.

Freshman year is wrought with stress as to what major should be picked and Vassey was not immune. “I thought about Interior Design but decided I couldn't handle math and angles,” she says as she laughs, “and Fine Arts seemed to offer the freedom to explore all avenues of art.” Three and a half years later, including a productive semester in Italy, Vassey is about to have her first show.

“I'm working with the psychological aspects of memory and how it starts to fade.” She uses printmaking techniques, fabric, found and used objects while incorporating patterns and shapes. “It's influenced by the Fifties and my grandmother.” Her grandmother, died when Vassey was two. “I have an ideal image of her but it's not the whole truth. My memory [of her] is there but I can't get a hold of it.”

Another connection to memory in Vassey's pieces is the use of silhouettes. These types of images have to be given a second look in order to really see the picture. It all goes back to faded memory. Vassey believes that “when you try to get a hold of a faded memory, you start adding your own parts so that it's not the truth.”

Like many student's, especially seniors, Vassey has thought about what to do after graduation. “I'm thinking of taking a year off and then get a business degree at Columbus State,” she says. Her ultimate dream? Asking her made her face light up. It's to own her own store. “I want to keep using printmaking, while making invitations, cards, handmade books, and little collectible prints.”

Columbus offers one of she most favorite things (she loves snow) but Vassey might end up moving back to the south. “Charleston [South Carolina] is a good place because it has a lot of history and I am drawn to places like that.”

As the days to her show start to dwindle into single digits, Shannon Vassey can be found at her favorite coffee spots, visiting the Short North, and wishing for snow.

Shannon Vassey's show will be held from February 22nd until the 26th. Closing reception will be held at the CCAD Design Studios on Broad on February 26th. A photo of her work will be posted when the closing reception time is decided.

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