Shirley Shor created Becoming An Artist near the end of her MFA studies at San Francisco State University. She explains that the work is a representation of the way her identity and sense of self as an artist was influenced and shaped by her peers in the MFA program. Shor writes, “Becoming An Artist is about the process of how identity is generated. It is an on-going attempt to re-claim and deconstruct my own identity.” The work displays portraits that slowly change from one person to the next in short segments. At any one time, the portrait on the screen is a compilation of numerous unique facial attributes including the artist’s own countenance. Thus, with each shift of the image an entirely new portrait emerges, creating endless permutations. The ever-changing visage in Becoming An Artist is a metaphor for Shor’s pivotal experience working and collaborating with the same people for two years. On a more universal level, Becoming An Artist addresses how subtly, yet profoundly, we are influenced by our family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances.

Becoming An Artist will be shown in conjunction with the ICA’s main gallery exhibition NextNew, showcasing the work of Frank Lobdell, Hung Liu and Manuel Neri alongside their choices of the “next new” artistic talent on the horizon.

Shirley Shor, Becoming An Artist, Real-time animation, 2004
installation view; plasma screen, PC, custom software, digital photos

 

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