Nina Johnson is proud to present The Ever-flashing Strap, an exhibition of recent paintings by Shannon Cartier Lucy. The ten paintings on view collectively open a portal to another world—one remarkably like ours yet, on closer inspection, the logic of people and objects interacting increasingly unravels. Mundane objects and actions—a red apple, pristine white Keds sneakers, a baptism—become surreal through Lucy’s hand: the apple balances in a woman’s orbital socket; the Keds are presented as an offering by a half-naked woman; the baptism is in a bathtub and may not be a baptism at all. Despite the unusual circumstances, two variables remain constant: intimacy and alienation. Lucy invites her viewers to be voyeurs of each worldlet, but provides no broader context to the narrative.
Growing up with a schizophrenic parent, Lucy recalls being unfazed by oddities like finding a toaster in the freezer or a bible in the dishwasher. These experiences lay the foundation for her interest in what mainstream society may deem disordered thinking. By placing seemingly incongruous characters together—such as a nude women bent over on a sidewalk with baseballs balanced on her back as hands clasping a bat swing toward her from outside the frame—Lucy enters a liminal space between the rational and irrational. By staying inside this threshold, instead of passing through it, Lucy allows for an emotional connection beyond reason.
About Shannon Cartier Lucy
Shannon Cartier Lucy (b. 1977, Nashville, TN) lives and works in Nashville and studied at New York University where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree. She also received a Master of Science degree from the University of Tennessee. She has exhibited at Lubov, New York, NY; Deboer Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Kathleen Cullen Gallery, New York, NY; Team Gallery, New York, NY; Edward Cella Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; and Cynthia Broan Gallery, New York, NY.
