Shana Robbins

Shana Robbins

Supernatural Conductor


July 9, 2010 – September 19, 2010

View the exhibition brochure: Exhibition Brochure

Shana Robbins is an Atlanta-based artist whose works address conditions of feminine power, natural phenomena, and cycles of life and death. Using a variety of media, she presents herself as a solitary and galvanizing figure, elaborately costumed and performing ritualized gestures in unique landscapes. Drawing on her own experiences as model and student of Butoh movement, and on numerous mythologies that link womanhood with the Earth and roles of conduit and healer, Robbins creates composite narratives of identity and transformation.

Supernatural Conductor is the largest exhibition by Robbins to date, and in planning her installation, she called upon key words and phrases including “altars, horror films, dream catchers, ghost in the machine, dirt and crystals, lasers, rainbows or spectrums, mirrors, parlor tricks or magic aesthetics, the failure of flesh, dancing, rolling, spinning, and the desecrated realm of beauty.” Viewers will encounter many of these materials and references, which contribute to the overall psychic and spiritual territory that the artist has explored throughout her career.

A large structure/shelter in the gallery corner is guarded by two mannequins, dressed in the costumes for characters known as “Tree Ghost” and “This is Me Be Careful.” These garments are worn by Robbins in performances—some for the public, others done for the camera—in Iceland, Mexico, New Mexico, and rural Georgia. Accumulated hand-crocheted doilies that reference the Victorian period were sewn together to create an ornamental pathway through the space, ending at the window which frames an opening night performance. Videos and realistic paintings and drawings are presented throughout the exhibition, indicating the range of approaches to representation and movement that Robbins uses to construct works that are simultaneously beautiful, vulnerable, lurid, and timeless.

Robbins has exhibited her work or performed at Las Vegas Contemporary Arts Center; MonkeyTown, Brooklyn; Mobius, Boston; BECA gallery in New Orleans; and at Atlanta galleries including Whitespace, and TEW Galleries. She was included in Talent Show: the 2007 Atlanta Biennial at Atlanta Contemporary Art Center.

Supernatural Conductor is commissioned by ACAC and is the artist’s most comprehensive project to date.

View Robbins on YouTube.

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