Shelby Ransom

My art spans across many mediums but shares common threads throughout. Whether the work is made from bronze or pastels, I try to incorporate loud textures and lots of layering- physical evidence showing where my hands, paintbrush, or pencil have been. It is important to me that not only is my artwork seen as a complete whole, but there is an indication that can almost be followed about what steps I took to make each piece. The work in this exhibition focuses on the theme of the history and storytelling of animals that were used in space programs across the world in the 1950s and 1960s. Often overlooked and more often unheard of, these animals were pivotal to the success of mankind in learning about and eventually reaching space. With my recent body of work, I aim to tell the stories of some of these unknowing cosmonauts and urge the viewer to think about what a mission to space might have meant for a dog, chimpanzee, or rabbit.