I do not work from direct references, but mostly the memory of looking and examining. Memories spark other memories, and the feelings that come up create new events in paint. Sometimes I draw to find images, and use the drawings as points of reference. I tend to reduce the image to an iconic, flat shape that can be infinitely generated. Something recognizable repeats itself, moving into abstraction or representing something that it is not, such as a part of the architecture, the environment or landscape.Many paintings of similar shapes when hung together become a pattern and are at once single paintings and one large work. Close together or far apart—talking to each other with the variety in their voices that is magnified and amplified, softened or made complete through the visual connections with their community. The accumulation of the paintings emphasizes itself into one louder voice but can, at any time, reconfigure or break off on its own for some privacy.I think of the wall as a stage where all the players can live, and like the stage things shift around and can take many configurations.  Those players come and go, and you get to know them. Similar to a closet or a clothing store—you are given outfit ideas, but you can switch things around.  You can make choices that might be unlikely. You can go home and combine the new thing with the old.  Gyan Shrosbree received her B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute, and her M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has had recent solo and two-person exhibitions at Ola Studio, Pound Ridge, NY: nx.ix Gallery, Detroit, MI; Haus Collective, San Antonio, TX; Grapefruits, Portland, OR; Grand View University, Des Moines, IA; Yellow Door Gallery, Des Moines, IA; Ripon College, Ripon, WI; Lovey Town Space, Madison, WI; and The Iowa Arts Council and State Historical Museum, Des Moines, IA. Her work has been included in recent group exhibitions at Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL; Cleve Carney Art Gallery, Glen Ellyn, IL; Ground Floor Gallery, Nashville, TN; The Woskob Family Gallery, State College, PA; NYSRP, Brooklyn, NY; and Artstart, Rhinelander, WI. Gyan has been an artist-in-residence at MacDowell, Yaddo, The Vermont Studio Center, Two Coats of Paint, and The Maple Terrace. Recent publications featuring her work include Egomania Magazine, The Coastal Post, Inertia Studio Visits, Precog Magazine, and Maake Magazine. Gyan is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Fine Arts at Maharishi International University. She lives and works in Fairfield, Iowa.

I do not work from direct references, but mostly the memory of looking and examining. Memories spark other memories, and the feelings that come up create new events in paint. Sometimes I draw to find images, and use the drawings as points of reference. I tend to reduce the image to an iconic, flat shape that can be infinitely generated. Something recognizable repeats itself, moving into abstraction or representing something that it is not, such as a part of the architecture, the environment or landscape.

Many paintings of similar shapes when hung together become a pattern and are at once single paintings and one large work. Close together or far apart—talking to each other with the variety in their voices that is magnified and amplified, softened or made complete through the visual connections with their community. The accumulation of the paintings emphasizes itself into one louder voice but can, at any time, reconfigure or break off on its own for some privacy.

I think of the wall as a stage where all the players can live, and like the stage things shift around and can take many configurations.  Those players come and go, and you get to know them. Similar to a closet or a clothing store—you are given outfit ideas, but you can switch things around.  You can make choices that might be unlikely. You can go home and combine the new thing with the old. 

Gyan Shrosbree received her B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute, and her M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has had recent solo and two-person exhibitions at Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY; Laisun Keane, Boston, MA; JEFF, Marfa, TX; Wrong Gallery, Marfa, TX; Ola Studio, Pound Ridge, NY: NX.IX Gallery, Detroit, MI; Haus Collective, San Antonio, TX; Grapefruits, Portland, OR; Grand View University, Des Moines, IA; Yellow Door Gallery, Des Moines, IA; Ripon College, Ripon, WI; Lovey Town Space, Madison, WI; and The Iowa Arts Council and State Historical Museum, Des Moines, IA. Her work has been included in recent group exhibitions at Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY; Tappeto Volante, Brooklyn, NY; Personal Space,Velejo, CA; Drake University, Des Moines, IA; Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL; Cleve Carney Art Gallery, Glen Ellyn, IL; Ground Floor Gallery, Nashville, TN; The Woskob Family Gallery, State College, PA; NYSRP, Brooklyn, NY; and Artstart, Rhinelander, WI. Gyan has been an artist-in-residence at MacDowell, Yaddo, The Vermont Studio Center, Two Coats of Paint, and The Maple Terrace. Recent publications featuring her work include Yale University Radio, Two Coats of Paint, Hyperallergic, New American Painting, Egomania Magazine,The Coastal Post, Inertia Studio Visits, Precog Magazine, and Maake Magazine. Gyan is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Fine Arts at Maharishi International University. She lives and works in Fairfield, Iowa.