Shan Turner-Carroll
Shan Turner-Carroll is an Australian artist of Burmese descent. His practice encompasses various mediums, including photography, sculpture, performance, and film.
Biography of Shan Turner-Carroll
Shan Turner-Carroll was born in 1987 in Cessnock, Australia. In 2008, he earned an Advanced Diploma from Newcastle Art School TAFE, Newcastle. In 2011, he obtained a Bachelor of Fine Art degree (with Distinction) from the University of Newcastle. Later, in 2016, he completed a Master of Philosophy (Fine Art) from The University of Newcastle, which included a year of exchange at Parsons School of Design, The New School, NYC.
In 2017, Turner-Carroll was named a finalist in the NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship, held at Artspace Sydney. He also reached the finals for the National Tertiary Art Prize and was subsequently awarded the Doctor Harold Schenberg Scholarship at the Perth Institute Of Contemporary Art in Western Australia. Additionally, in 2013, Shan was honored with a University Medal with Honours (First Class) and was shortlisted for the Macquarie Group Emerging Artist award, where he received the Nick Waterlow OAM Highly Commended Award for emerging artists.
The artist has showcased his work across various locations, including Australia, New York, New Zealand, Iceland, Hong Kong, and Myanmar. His pieces are part of prestigious collections such as The Macquarie Group Collection, the University of Newcastle Art Collection, and Curve Gallery, as well as private collections in New York, Newcastle, Sydney, Perth, and Burma.
Currently, Shan Turner-Carroll lives and works in Sydney, Australia.
Shan Turner-Carroll's Art Style
Shan Turner-Carroll's practice delves into the realms of human and non-human nature, exploring alternative modes of social exchange and the interactions among art, the artist, and the viewer — sending and receiving signals. His work has the ability to resonate with snakes, serenade and communicate with extraterrestrials, and engage in negotiations with islands, rivers, and oceans.
Exploring the intricate connections between the body and the landscape, site-specificity plays a pivotal role in his practice. It's not just about creating art within a location, but rather how an embodied methodology of creation arises within each unique site and context. Turner-Carroll views art-making as a ritualistic and transformative process, infusing play, humor, and experimentation as fundamental elements in his current practice.
In the last three years, Shan Turner-Carroll's work has transitioned from still photography to a multidisciplinary practice that erases the boundaries established by historical and behavioral conventions between art and life. He employs the ritual of art-making and its transformative power to challenge how art can derive significance beyond the confines of the traditional gallery institution. At the heart of his practice lies the belief that art plays a meaningful and active role in contemporary, industrial, globalized societies, where the concept of the individual is most prominent.