Brooke Shaden
Night Terrors (Series)
DESCRIPTION
"Night Terrors" is a body of work that represents my chronic night terrors. Most nights, I awaken to a hallucination, trapped in a state of sleep paralysis, before my body fully awakens and I can run from the perceived danger. Night terrors in adults are very uncommon and usually result from unaddressed trauma.
These self-portraits depict the various states of the experience. In "Studying with Kafka", insects cover my eyes to depict the decaying mind. Beetles in particular have long been used to symbolize the transition from sleeping to waking, and even the transition into death.
The circular format and regal poses of the subjects take back control over an uncontrollable situation. The bird covering my eyes serves to show my mind taking flight; the plastic bag over my head as paralysis, and the sewn moth as my constant connection to the nightmare world.
AUTHOR
SELECTED AWARDS
ND Photographer of the Year, 2016
Shutter Magazine's Top 10 Most Influential Photographers, March 2014
Project Imagination Winner, 2011/2012
30 Under 30 Women Photographers, January 2010
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Spillman Blackwell Fine Art, Jan 2022
JoAnne Artman Gallery, NYC + Laguna Beach, Jan 2017, Jan 2019, Oct 2021
Soren Christiansen Gallery, PhotoNOLA, February 2014
Morren Galleries, Amsterdam, May 2013
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Affordable Art Fair NY, NYC, March 2015
PhotoLA Art Fair, Los Angeles, January 2014
Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles, December 2011
Pacific Art Foundation - Private Museum Showing, Southern California, October 2011
BIOGRAPHY
Brooke Shaden was born in March of 1987 in Lancaster, PA, USA and graduated college from Temple University with degrees in filmmaking and English. She began creating self-portraits for ease and to have full control over the images, and has since grown into a self-portrait fine art photographer. Brooke works to capture fantastic realities within her photographic frame. By using painterly techniques as well as the square format, traditional photographic properties are replaced by otherworldly elements.
More awards/exhibitions: http://brookeshaden.com/cv/
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