Multi-media artist Shoshannah White finds inspiration in environmental science and the climate, sparked by the interaction of raw materials found on site and the photographic process.
Roswell, NM | shoshannahwhite.com | @shoshannahwhite
With a stark palette of ice white and coal black, Shoshannah White’s works find poetry in the hidden forces of the natural world, from the workings of the Earth’s climate to the power of electromagnetism. A photo-based artist, White’s practice spans painting, sculpture, and public art installation. Her projects find inspiration in environmental science and the climate, sparked by the interaction of raw materials found on site and the photographic process.
In her latest works, the raw materials of glacier ice and coal enter into dialogue, “two materials formed through compression over time” and “entwined environmentally,” as she describes them. These natural materials signify opposing forces, yet are inextricably bound in her compositions.
Originally from Maine, White has called Roswell, New Mexico home since 2019. Her practice has drawn her to different environments and ecosystems around the world to collect specimens from coal mines and glaciers and to embark on residencies from the forests of New England to Arctic Circle expeditions.
“There are so many ways to enter a dialogue about the climate,” White told photography magazine Ain’t Bad in 2019 while discussing her project Chattermark, a street art initiative that brought mural-scale images of melting glacier ice to public spaces, which were then allowed to weather and deteriorate over time. For White, abstract ideas of climate change and rising sea temperatures become more tangible through an encounter of the senses. “Artists come to the conversation through a channel which activates different pressure points than statistics or data,” she says. An aesthetic experience here holds the key to a transformative experience.
White’s work has been exhibited at institutions including the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Roswell Museum and Art Center, Maine Jewish Museum, Dickinson College, Bates College Museum, and the George Eastman House. Her work will be shown in an upcoming solo show at Perimeter Gallery in Belfast, Maine.
Her work is represented by Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine, and Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque.
