Sherry Shahan: FROM THE HEART OF OLD MAGAZINES

Sherry Shahan
FROM THE HEART OF OLD MAGAZINES: Collages

Feeling shipwrecked in 2020, I began ripping words from the heart of old magazines. My scissors were like me, rusty and dull. The glue, too thick. My collages resembled drawings found in a kindergarten classroom. I like that about them; it frees me from ideas of what art should be. Decades ago I approached photography much the same way. I rarely considered myself a professional even after my photos appeared in national magazines and newspapers. My collages seem to spill into two categories: those that pick at the scabs of humanity and those that reflect promise and possibility. Both styles express my purpose, passion, and personal truths.

—Sherry Shahan, September 2021

FROM THE HEART OF OLD MAGAZINES by Sherry Shahan - Title — Bizarre Dance

FROM THE HEART OF OLD MAGAZINES by Sherry Shahan - 2 — Endurance

FROM THE HEART OF OLD MAGAZINES by Sherry Shahan - 3 — Day Dream

FROM THE HEART OF OLD MAGAZINES by Sherry Shahan - 4 — Waiting

FROM THE HEART OF OLD MAGAZINES by Sherry Shahan - 5 — You Are Not Alone

Sherry Shahan has wandered the globe as a travel journalist, often watching the world and its people from behind: whether in the hub of London, a backstreet in Havana, or alone from a window in a squat hotel room in Paris; whether with a 35 mm camera or an iPhone. Over the past many months, she’s begun looking inward, living more fully inside her own skin. She is no longer too old or too slow. She moves at her own pace, eschewing imperfections and embracing her authentic female self. Her art and photography have appeared in Los Angeles Times, Gargoyle, december, Backpacker, Country Living, Lemon Sprouting, Open Minds and elsewhere. She earned an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and taught a creative writing course for UCLA for 10 years. www.SherryShahan.com