Mallory Shotwell is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and educator based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her desire to work in and with the communities around her affects everything she does – from large scale interactive art projects, connecting with artists across the country, to teaching art at local food pantries and community centers.
Her social engagement installation work is informed by her years as a Montessori teacher, where she honed skills of observation and manipulating the environment to suit various sensorial needs. She incorporates different learning styles into interactive work, video and audio art, and installations, ensuring that viewers become participants in the gallery or public art experience.
Mallory’s current body of work is a visual articulation of the breast cancer experience spanning across the Midwest. Neither shying away from, nor trivializing the experience, she features in-person and written interviews of people in various stages of breast cancer, the art created over this two-year project utilizes the artifacts of cancer, large-scale paintings, alternative photographic processes, and walking audio tours.
