Paula Shaughnessy

I’ve always loved Day of the Dead art; the significance of honoring the people we’ve loved and lost, and the connection to them that continues to exist as long as we remember them. I love bright color and contrast, hard graphic lines, and taking a topic so emotionally and physically complex and making something simple and beautiful of it. I sincerely appreciate the skill it takes to generate photo-realistic art, but it doesn't speak to me on an emotional level - I connect emotionally to work that's a in a somewhat raw state; pieces that are more naive and primal, and I hope that my work makes that kind of connection with other people. My work honors love most of all, because I believe that no matter what else you've done with your life, it's what and how you've loved that matters.