Eastern Band Cherokee Shan Goshorn is a multi-media artist proficient in multiple genres but she deliberately strives to choose the medium that best expresses a statement. A long time human rights activist, her recent work consists of traditionally inspired, political baskets that tie historical events to contemporary issues unique to native people.As a self-taught weaver, she credits the many generations of basket makers before her for inspiring and informing her work. Additionally, she recognizes her 2013 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship as dramatically influencing her exploration into basketry/conceptual sculpture. Motivated by the objects and paper documents found there, she weaves images and words into her baskets that represent how historical decisions are still impacting native people today.Shan is an active member of the inter-tribal community in Oklahoma where she has lived since 1981 but maintains a strong relationship with her tribe in North Carolina, returning several times throughout the year. She is the recipient of a 2013 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, 2013 SARF, 2013 SWAIA Discovery Fellowship and a 2014 Native Arts and Culture fellowship. Her work is in prestigious collections including (selected): the National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC), Denver Art Museum (CO), Nordamerika Native Museum (Switzerland), The Surgut Museum of Art (Russia), Gilcrease Museum (OK), Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art (IN), Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (NM), Heard Museum (AZ), Montclair Art Museum (NJ) and Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MN).


Portrait photo by Rosalie Favell.