Corner Stone (1992), a mixed-media double portrait by Shawna Moulton as a young girl and her uncle, the man who raised her, explores the complexities of parenthood. In the artist’s words: “They say parenthood grants us the chance to retrace our own steps through childhood. In those early years, it often felt like I was raised by gods. It was a bittersweet revelation to realize they were simply human. Much of who I am today is a testament to those who raised me; it was neither all good nor all bad. Humans shape humans, and I aim to honor that.”
Shawna joined Bakehouse through the Summer Open program in 2022. During this time, she worked on a series of charcoal portraits of her relatives, including “Aunt Paulette” (2022) and “Papa Reeshie and Aunt Phillis” (2022), which explore familial ties, ancestry, and heritage. These earlier drawings, like Corner Stone (1992), form part of a larger collage that includes pieces of colorfully patterned paper functioning as backdrops or articles of clothing. For Shawna, who was born in the Bahamas, raised in Jamaica, and migrated to the US at eleven years old, these portraits are a way to stay connected to her roots and celebrate the people that shaped her. It is also a way for her to honor her legacy, impart family traditions, and share oral histories with her own daughter.
Shawna’s artwork symbolizes her continuous search for identity as an immigrant in the US, with deep connections to the Caribbean and African Diaspora. Rather than passively exploring or understanding herself, Shawna chooses to use her work as a mechanism to actively mold and shape her own identity.
About the Artist
Shawna Moulton is a multi-disciplinary artist and art educator based in South Florida. She was born in Freeport, Bahamas, raised in Kingston, Jamaica, and then migrated to the United States. At an early age, she discovered the magic of art-making, manifesting works of drawings, paintings, sculptures, and paper-making. In 2015 she graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts with a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts. Her art journey has taken her to the Awagami Factory in Tokushima, Japan, where she learned traditional Japanese paper making. She has several years of experience working in museum education departments such as the Museum of Contemporary Art (North Miami), the Norton Museum of Art, the Young At Art Museum, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts Museum. Her role has been engaging the public community with conversations around art, teaching art techniques, and designing art curriculums.
Moulton has been in residence at the Bakehouse Arts Complex and is presently a member of the Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator. The artworks she creates reflect her search for identity through her heritage as an immigrant in America, with deep connections to the Caribbean rooted in the richness of the African Diaspora. She believes that diverse stories are essential to creating a more just world for people to be seen and represented, and this is something she is deeply committed to manifesting through her art.
For more information about the artist and her work:
www.shawnamoulton.com / @shawnamoultonart