Shan Goshorn

Early life

Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Goshorn found most of her inspiration in her teenage years when she worked for a summer at her tribe’s Qualla Arts and Crafts Cooperative in Cherokee NC. Here, she became familiar with the work of top Cherokee artists and traditional arts. This experience led to a job with the Indian Arts and Crafts Board where she became involved with organizing exhibitions for native artists and photo documenting the gathering of raw materials and preparing them for Cherokee basket making, carving and other crafts.

After graduating from college, she was commissioned by the Department of the Interior/Indian Arts and Crafts Board to illustrate in pen and ink 20 traditional Cherokee basket patterns. These drawings taught her the math and rhythm of basket weaving and convinced her that she could weave a basket but she didn't try until 2008 when she wove her first Cherokee-style basket from paper splints.

Education

Goshorn attended the Cleveland Institute of Art in Ohio because of their silversmithing department. She was the only Native American student and did not find support in exploring Native American art traditions. Goshorn left the Cleveland Institute of Art and went to the Atlanta College of Art where she finished her Bachelor of Fine Arts. She found inspiration upon discovering American Indian Art Magazine and artists such as Fritz Scholder and T.C. Cannon. After these discoveries, Goshorn moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1981 to start her career.

Baskets

Goshorn has woven more than 200 baskets since 2009. She has been identified by the Museum of the Cherokee Indian as the 14th living Eastern Band Cherokee to master the difficult double-weave technique. A few examples of her double-weave baskets include Sealed Fate (her first double weave), Educational Genocide, Reclaiming Our Power and Precious Holding. A few examples of her single-weave baskets include No Honor, 10 Little Indians, Prayers for Our Children, and Why We Dance. Goshorn has also modeled some of her baskets after those that would have had specific uses in the tribal community. Examples include her Phishing Basket, modeled after a traditional fishing basket, Cherokee Burden Basket, modeled after a basket that would have been used to carry wood, corn or other heavy burdens and Separating the Chaff, modeled after a sifting or winnowing basket. In her recent work, Shan Goshorn has begun to experiment with non-traditional shapes moving more in a direction of sculpture. Hearts of Our Women was woven in a way to mimic the flames of a fire, The Fire Within was woven in the shape of the Cherokee seven-sided star, and Swept Away was woven as a 3-dimensional representation of the weaving pattern called "Water."

Before focusing on baskets, Goshorn's work consisted largely of drawings, paintings, photography and hand-tinted photography.

Early in her career, Goshorn was commissioned by the Department of the Interior and Indian Arts and Crafts Board to illustrate 20 traditional Cherokee basket patterns in pen and ink. These drawing taught Goshorn the technique of weaving, though she did not try until 2008. With her work, Goshorn attempts to present historical and contemporary issues with the portrayal of Native American people.

Honest Injun

Honest Injun is one of Goshorn's series that addresses human rights issues specific to Native Americans. She chose a multitude of hand-painted black and white images of brands that use Indian images and names to sell their product. This collection was made in response to America's quincentennial celebration of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas.

Reclaiming Cultural Ownership; Challenging Indian Stereotypes

This collection consisted of 36 black and white documentary style images of Native American people living every-day life. This series worked to challenge the way that Indian people are portrayed by the media.

Kituwah Motherland

This double-exposed, hand-painted black and white photograph helped to raise awareness of Duke Power's plan to build a power plant overlooking the Kituwa mound, one of the most sacred locations to the Cherokee people.

Fellowships

Since her first double-weave work, Goshorn has been awarded multiple fellowships and her work has been displayed in collections such as the National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC), Gilcrease Museum (OK), Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (NM), CN Gorman Museum (UC Davis, CA), Minneapolis Institute of Art (MN), Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art(IN) and The Museum of the Cherokee Indian (NC). Goshorn is the recipient of the 2013 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, 2013 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, 2013 SWAIA Discovery Fellowship, the 2014 Native Arts and Culture Artist Fellowship and the 2015 United States Artists Fellowship.