Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, Shannon Sullivan lives and works in Eureka, California. She earned a B.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an M.F.A from University of North Texas School of Visual Arts. Sullivan is a Professor of Art at College of the Redwoods in Eureka, CA.
Sullivan creates sculptures, wall pieces and installations using a core visual vocabulary rooted in the prevailing ways of nature. Her work maintains a seductive, mysterious quality as she explores the nuances present in the living world.
Sullivan's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums nationally and internationally. She participated in a quarantine paper folding project called Net Gain in 2020-2021 curated by CENTRAL BOOKING in New York, NY that will exhibit at the Noyes Museum in Hammonton, NJ in 2023. She was selected to participate in the grant-funded project and exhibition, Re-Emergence, at the Morris Graves Museum of art in 2021 in Eureka, CA. She has worked as an artist in residence at Dorland Artist Colony in Temecula, CA, in Jingdezhen, China at the Pottery Workshop, and at the International Ceramics Research Center in Skaelskor, Denmark. Her work has been reviewed in Ceramics Monthly and was curated into the book 500 Ceramic Sculptures.
Shannon shares a studio with her husband, fellow artist and designer, David Zdrazil. They live together with their young daughter and little dog, Mr. Sparkles.