Just a Sprinkle of Fairy Dust, Shannon Lester.
This body of work represents a selection of pieces created during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown of 2020. Though I was already stuck at home due to severe back problems at the time, I took this period of isolation as an opportunity to go inward and improve my skills as a painter. I watched hundreds of painting tutorials including those of Bob Ross, Joni Young, Color by Feliks, and Chuck Black to name a few. Most of these popular painters focus primarily on nature and landscapes, a topic that I haven’t really explored very much in my art in the past. For many years I focused primarily on the human figure, surrealism and more abstract or inner landscapes. So, one of my goals for this time was to explore the healing power of nature in art and also to dive deep into my interest in fantasy art.
From day one of going to art school it was made clear to me that a ‘professional’ or ‘serious’ artist would never consider painting fantasy art. It was the subject matter of little girls and amateurs, certainly not contemporary or relevant at all. I found this attitude to be rather pompous and narrow-minded and it certainly seemed to have a connection to the patriarchal tradition of art. During this very dark period of the world shutting down, I decided that I didn’t care anymore what the academic art world thought of me. Not that I ever really cared, but during this period I would say that I cared even less. Also, as a proud queer artist the thought of painting unicorns and fairies suited me quite well.
I decided to paint whatever I felt like painting with a particular emphasis on keeping my subject matter very positive, inspirational, and my colour palette very bright as usual. I felt a certain kind of obligation to make art that not only took me to a ‘happy place’, but also to inspire my viewers who included my friends and family who were also living in fear and isolation. I wanted to do work that was uplifting and positive, in stark contrast to the everyday horrors of the outside world (which were virtually unavoidable due to social media). I also took on a lot of commissions and sold a lot of work during this period because I was not receiving any financial support at the time (long story) so, in a sense, I was also forced to become more of a mainstream, commercial artist. Something I have never been interested in but survival was very much a priority at this time.
Shannon Lester received his MFA from UBC-O in Interdisciplinary Painting & Performance in 2013. He is also an event producer and drag performance artist known as Sasha Zamolodchikova and is very active in the local lgbtq2+ community. Shannon has been painting for over twenty years now and has exhibited widely across Canada, and Japan.
“Paint Happy Clouds“ will be on view in the Alternators Members Gallery from August 7 to August 29, 2020. You can see more of Shannon’s work at www.shannonlester.com or on Instagram @shannonlesterart.
Paint Happy Clouds in the Members’ Gallery, 2020.