Shauna Fahley (b Nov 14, 1994. Renton, WA. Lives Brooklyn, NY) is a ceramicist. Her sculptures embody her chosen compounding material and subject: clay and horse. She notes that both are foundational to humankind’s development. Her primary aim is, she writes, “to reconfigure the equine icon as a vehicle for understanding empathy beyond ourselves.” Fahley’s sculptures critique the legacy of horses’ objectification in Western Art, presenting an alternative vision. Many of her sculptures eschew the rider, focussing solely on the horse. They are the collective image of horses throughout time, a modern equine monument. And yet, some works reveal that the best horse-human interactions shed hierarchy in favor of an expansion of two separate beings into one. It begins with points of contact: hand to clay, hand to coat, seat to spine.
Fahley has an MFA from Alfred University in Alfred, NY and a BFA from The University of Washington in Seattle, WA. She won many grants, scholarships and awards toward her university education. She has exhibited throughout the United States. Highlights include group shows at the Canton Museum of Art in Ohio and Young Sculptors Competition at Miami University in Oxford Ohio. She debuted the Sunder series at her MFA thesis exhibition at Alfred in 2021. She was Artist in Residence at the Sculpture Space in Long Island City, NY, The Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MT, and the PSZ Clay Center in Zanesville, OH.
b. 1994 Renton, WA Lives and works in New York, NY
EDUCATION
2021 MFA, Ceramic Art New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, NY
2018 Post Baccalaureate, Ceramics, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA
2017 BFA, 3D4M (3-Dimensional Forum), The University of Washington, Seattle, WA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
The thing which is not, two artists, two poems, Curated by Tyler Emerson-Dorsch, Emerson Dorsch, Miami, FL
2021
Sunder: MFA Solo Thesis Exhibition, Fosdick Nelson Gallery, NYSCC at Alfred University, Alfred, NY
2017
BFA Solo Thesis Exhibition, CMA North and South Galleries, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
Earth Transformed; Ceramic Artist Exhibition, Rosewood Arts Center, Kettering, OH
2022
Thinking with Animals, Canton Museum of Art, Canton, OH
2021
Voices of Reflection Art Show, Silvermine Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
Conflux: Alfred Ceramics MFA 2021, Sculpture Space NYC, Long Island City, NY
NCECA National Student Juried Exhibition, DAAP Galleries, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
Come Hell or High Water, Robert Turner Gallery, NYSCC at Alfred University, Alfred, NY
2020
Confluence, Robert Turner Gallery, NYSCC at Alfred University, Alfred, NY
2019
The Archie Bray Foundation Artists in Residence Exhibition, Kolva-Sullivan Gallery, Spokane, WA
The Residence Artist Exhibition, The Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT
Animals Among Us, Red Lodge Clay Art Center, Red Lodge, MT
2018
NCECA National Student Juried Exhibition, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
One Thousand Horses, Handshouse Studio, Norwell, MA
Penland Session Four Student Exhibition, Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC
Fake News Art Exhibition and Performance, State College, PA
2017
Residency Exhibition, Katherine Mitzel Gallery, PSZ Clay Center, Zanesville, OH
Unity At The Bemis, The Bemis Building, Seattle, WA
3D4M BFA Exit Group Show, Jacob Lawrence Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
NCECA National Student Juried Exhibition, Hoffman Gallery Portland, OR
The Digital Icon Juried Show, The Jacob Lawrence Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
2016
Undergraduate 3D4M Juried Show, South Gallery at the CMA, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
HONORS AND AWARDS
2021
Studio Potter Merit Award, NCECA National Juried Student Exhibition, Cincinnati, OH
Student Research Development Fund, NYSCC at Alfred University, Alfred, NY
2020
Cares Act Grant, NYSCC at Alfred University, Alfred, NY
2019
Windgate Scholarship, Summer Resident, The Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT
2018
Work Study Scholarship, Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC
2017
Parnassus Graduating with Excellence Award, The University of Washington, Seattle, WA
NCECA National Student Juried Exhibition Undergraduate Award for Excellence Second Place, Hoffman
Gallery, Portland, OR
2016
Kottler Noritake Scholarship, The University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Rometti Prize Nomination, The University of Washington, Seattle, WA
2015
Jack Roberts Endowed Scholarship, The University of Washington, Seattle, WA
PRINT PUBLICATIONS
2021
NCECA National Student Juried Exhibition Catalogue, Vol. 42
2018
CET The Art Show, Season 9, Episode 7, October 8, 2018
NCECA National Student Juried Exhibition Catalogue, Vol. 39
Bricolage Literary & Visual Arts Journal, Issue 36
2017
Clemans Gayle, Seattle Times, “4 ways to catch artists on the rise in Seattle,” April 28, 2017
Bricolage Literary & Visual Arts Journal, Issue 35
NCECA National Student Juried Exhibition Catalogue, Vol. 38
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
The Jim Kolva and Pat Sullivan Collection
The Alfred Ceramics Art Museum Collection
The Archie Bray Foundation Permanent Collection
Due to COVID-19, we are open by appointment. The gallery will follow social distancing protocol and allow only a certain number of visitors per appointment.
