SHAN Wallace is a nomadic award-winning visual artist, photographer, educator, and freedom fighter from East Baltimore, MD. Inspired by the harsh racial, social and economic realities of her surroundings in Baltimore, SHAN learned about the importance of service, the power of collaboration, and the effects of social change at an early age. Now, she uses her lens, collage and in situ installations as the basis of her work, demonstrating the cultural and political narratives of black life, confronting oppressive politics and histories within communities of the African diaspora, and challenging ideas surrounding existing collections, culture, and archives of Blackness. Much of SHAN Wallace’s work is focused on the Archive – its history of development, challenges of the modern Archive, Archive as Artwork, and how to ethically accumulate primary source documents.

SHAN has received recognition from publications such as the Baltimore Beatfor “Best Solo Show,” the City Paper for “Best Photographer,” and the Association of Health Care Journalists’ second-place “Small Outlet Feature” award for her photojournalism piece “Losing Conner’s Mind” in Atavist Magazine. Her work has received widespread support from publications like The Daily Beast, Essence, Black Entertainment Television (BET), The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, VICE, Red Bull Amaphiko, The Charlotte Observer, and The New York Times.

SHAN’s work is in both public and private collections across the United States. She has exhibited work internationally in galleries and museums including Okay Space Gallery in New York, We Rise in Los Angeles, Elsewhere museum in Greensboro, NC, the New Gallery of Modern Art in Charlotte, NC, the Mariano Arts Center in Havana, Cuba, and Maryland’s Reginald F. Lewis Museum, the Contemporary, and Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center. SHAN lives and works in many spaces between Los Angeles and Baltimore.