Shea is from Milwaukee on the shores of Lake Michigan where her body grew to orient towards water. Milwaukee is also the place where she began learning of injustice and this initiated their journey as an activist, community organizer, and water protector. As a textile artist, Shea uses fabric to tell stories of place and self as a way of processing the complexities of this beautiful, devastating world.
While Shea’s work is based in traditional quilting practices, she incorporates innovative techniques into her art. Her smaller art pieces take a unique approach by using a machine to precisely cut fabric layers which are then sewn together into topographic maps.
These place-based pieces seek to connect people to the times, places, and experience that give them a feeling of belonging and connection and draw upon Shea’s love of adventure and background in water science. Shea’s larger works also seek to incorporate values of rest and self-care as a radical act of resistance through the comfort and security that handmade quilts provide.
Today Shea lives along the western shores of Lake Superior and identifies as a queer woman, parent, adventurer, abolitionist, water protector, and dreamer.
