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Artist's Statement and Biography In the fall of 2000, I took my first quilt class at the Calico Whale my local quilt shop. During the stitching of that quilt, I became someone else. I had been a sewer since I was four years old. I had a hand-made Barbie clothing business at the age of ten, and I worked in the costume shop in college. But I never saw my love of sewing as being artful. To think I could use my technical skills to create powerful visual objects was a fierce realization. At first, I resisted this transformation. I had spent years earning an MFA with the hopes of being a writer not a quilter. But writing felt like such a chore, and quilting felt like such a joy, I did what we all hope to do: I followed my bliss. For the next six years, I immersed myself in the world of art quilting as best I could from the remote Alaskan town of Valdez. I studied and I stitched alone. I love piecing and manipulating fabric to create optical illusions. The endless optical opportunities offered by old quilt blocks such as the Wheel of Mystery, the Pinwheel, and the Spider Web are a constant source of inspiration for me. I consider my work a blending of pop art, psychedelic op-art, and the traditional patchwork block. On the surface these art forms might seem like strange mates, but for me, they are a fertile union. While a great deal of my work focuses on pattern and repetition, I am also interested in making spontaneous, just start stitching, quilts that grow organically from the work of my hands. Nothing is more exciting to me then to freely manipulate fabric into wild, bold expressions of color. For the last four years, I have been working on a long arm quilting machine. Thread play and creative stitch work are major elements of my art. I am particularly interested in how thread can be used to optically transform fabric. The viewer may think the fabric is made of three colors, when in reality it is two colors plus thread. Most recently, I have become interested in using the quilt block as a method of communication. I want my quilts to talk using pattern and block. It's the next evolution. I want to "write" with my quilts. |
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Exhibitions and Awards
2010 Fiber Celebration 2010, Tointon Gallery for the Visual Arts, Greeley, Colorado All Alaska Juried Biennial Art Exhibition XXXIII, Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, Alaska Nature by Design: New Directions in Fiber and Jewelry, Larson Gallery, Yakima, Washington Mark This! MTS Gallery, Anchorage, Alaska Form, Not Function: Quilt Art at the Carnegie, New Albany, Indiana Viewer’s Choice Award for Albert Hofmann's Obit Road to California, Inc. Quilter’s Showcase and Conference, Upland, California 2009 Explorations in Quilting Invitational traveling exhibit showcasing fresh looks in contemporary quilt art. Fiber Force 2009 Traveling show highlighting art quilters who are doing cutting edge work. International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas Merit Machine Quilting Third Place for Albert Hofmann's Obit National Quilting Association Annual Show, Columbus, Ohio Best Machine Quilting Track-Mounted Machine and First Place Other Category for Albert Hofmann's Obit and Honorable Mention Art/Innovative Category for Colors Unfurled aka If Betsy Ross Had My Stash SAQA@20 - Art & Excellence Studio Art Quilt Associates traveling show celebrating 20 years of representing the world's quilt artists. American Quilter's Society Paducah, Kentucky Handi Quilter Wall Longarm Machine Quilting Award for Albert Hofmann's Obit Focus on Fiber II – Fiber Open, Studio Channel Islands Art Center, Camarillo, California National Fiber Directions Exhibition 2009, The Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, Kansas Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival XX, Hampton, Virginia Honorable Mention for Blooming Roses Appliquéd by Sandy Garvin & Quilted by Maria C. Shell President Obama: A Celebration in Art Quilts, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center, Montgomery College, Takoma Park, Maryland Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Project Award - The Rasmuson Foundation is an Alaska-based non-profit committed to supporting Alaskan Artists. For more information about the wonderful work they do, please go to rasmuson.org. Quilt Odyssey, Hershey, Pennsylvania American Quilter's Society Paducah, Kentucky Handi Quilter Wall Longarm Machine Quilting Award for Albert Hofmann's Obit Denver National Quilt Festival IV, Denver, Colorado Fiber Arts Fiesta, Albuquerque, New Mexico 2008 International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas Patchwork Politics, Special Exhibit, International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas Quilt Expo, Madison, Wisconsin Lowell Quilt Festival, Images 08, Lowell, Massachusetts Pacific Northwest Quiltfest, Seattle, Washington Quilt Odyssey, Hershey, Pennsylvania Machine Quilter's Showcase, Overland Park, Kansas Teacher's Ribbon for Strawberry Fields Forever Pieced by Leann McGinnis and Quilted by Maria C. Shell Denver National Quilt Festival XIII, Denver, Colorado Indiana Heritage Quilt Show, Bloomington, Indiana Honorable Mention, Pieced Professional for Rolling Thunder Pieced by Leann McGinnis and Quilted by Maria C. Shell Quilter's Heritage Celebration, Lancaster, Pennsylvania Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival XIX, Hampton, Virginia American Quilter's Society Paducah, Kentucky Road to California, Ontario, California Honorable Mention, Traditional Large Pieced for Rolling Thunder Pieced by Leann McGinnis and Quilted by Maria C. Shell 2007 A Quilter's Gathering, Nashua, New Hampshire International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas Great Alaskan Quilt Show, Anchorage, Alaska Viewer's Choice Small Quilt for Owsley's Owls American Quilter's Society Quilt Expo, Nashville, Tennessee Machine Quilter's Showcase, Overland Park, Kansas Judge's Choice for Rolling Thunder Pieced by Leann McGinnis and Quilted by Maria C. Shell and Teacher's Ribbon for Spinda Fiber Arts Fiesta, Albuquerque, New Mexico First Place, Innovative Quilts Small for Boxy 9-Patch Denver National Quilt Show, Denver, Colorado Publications 500 Art Quilts: An Inspiring Collection of Contemporary Work, edited by Ray Hemachandra. Lark Books 2010 The Journey of Hope in America: Quilts Inspired by President Barack Obama, edited by Carolyn L. Mazloomi, 2010 International Quilt Fest: Quilt Scene (Special Commemorative Issue Celebrating 35 years of Festival Published by Quilting Arts Magazine and Quilts, Inc. Fall 2009) American Quilter July 2009 Special Show Issue, The Quilting Quarterly: Journal of the National Quilting Association, Inc. Summer 2009 President Obama: A Celebration in Art Quilts, edited by Audrey Walen, 2009 Quilting Quarterly: Journal of the National Quilting Association, Inc. Spring 2009 Quilt Mania: The Quilt Magazine Number 66 Interviews Maria has been interviewed twice for the Quilter's S.O.S. Save Our Stories project sponsored by The Alliance for American Quilts. You can read her interviews by going to www.allianceforamericanquilts.org. |
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