“Potluck” Group Exhibition, curated by Dasha Matsuura
18 February–11 March 2023
Opening reception Saturday, 18 February, 5–8PM

Hashimoto Contemporary LA
2754 S La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034

Select special edition, artist framed miniature works from my new series, Nature Torte, will be available for the first time at the annual food-themed Potluck exhibition at Hashimoto Contemporary LA this February. For an advanced preview, please email LA@hashimotocontemporary.com.

Solo show: 開花結果 OPEN FLOWERS BEAR FRUIT

9 November 2022–12 March 2023

Artist Talk: 19 January 2023, 6:30PM
Exhibition companion: https://openflowersbearfruit.com

USC Pacific Asia Museum

46 North Los Robles Avenue
Pasadena, California 91101

“開花結果 Open Flowers Bear Fruit presents 10
photographs from Stephanie Shih’s ongoing series Asian American Still
Life. Through her references to 17th century Dutch still life
paintings, Shih’s visually rich and detailed photographs remind viewers
of the complex history of objects and food. Upon viewing the
photographs, visitors may contemplate reaching through the surface of
the paper to grad ahold of a donut or a bite of mochi. However, the
richest reward in spending time with Shih’s series is to consider the
complexity of the Asian American experience as it has manifested in the
foods we eat and the things that remind us of home. Shih’s passion in
telling Asian American stories through her selection of objects and
foods is particularly compelling, as is her specific interest in
collaborating with the artists who create the ceramics and foods
featured in her still life photographs. From November 9, 2022 until
March 12, 2023, please stop by our Annex Gallery to see Shih’s work in
person.” –USC Pacific Asia Museum

Here’s the spread of moving and still images that I created for the LA Times Image article on incense culture in Los Angeles. This was such an incredible dream assignment, building on still life symbolism to capture the ~*vibes*~ of incense, the heaviness of the smokey air, the strong sense-memories of each scent, the swirls of dreams that hang. We pulled from both cultural touchstones like home altars and LA-centric references like the desert and sea to create these images.

See above for one of the early planning sketches. And read the whole article here!

It never gets old to see my work in print!

Here’s a before-and-after, concept-to-finish look at the spread I shot for the recent June 27 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, featuring Growlerwerks’ nitro cold brew canister. As in my sketch (pardon my third-grade sketching skills!), the concept that I pitched was to have an almost comic-book, Batman-y, graphic feel to the coffee, sitting atop city buildings, with a big celestial body in the sky–reminiscent of a sun-like moon or a moon-like sun. I cast a round yellow light filter out of resin, which I put a spotlight through to get the strong yellow hard light. Then we filled in the dimensions of the glass and growler with soft light from the front. Many thanks to beverage stylist extraordinaire David Probasco for making the nitro cold brew pour look extra yum.

I’m having an open studio for the first time ever, and would love to see you! I’ll be previewing not one but two (!!) new bodies of work-in-progress that I’ve been hammering away on (literally) during the past 5 weeks here at the Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency, right outside the west gate of Joshua Tree National Park. Make a day trip or weekend of it in the desert–go for a picnic and hike or brunch at La Copine or grab some coffee and stroll around Joshua Tree… Then come by the JTHAR studio from 4–6pm for some art and a reading from essayist Miles Griffis, my current fellow artist resident! Hope to see you here!

:: New works ::

sitting still/standing still is a daily still life meditation on the push-pull between artifice and nature. Set against the backdrop of the Mojave, the multimedia series follows the lives of two inanimate main characters—white gallery podia—as they experience the oft-surprising biodiversity of the desert and the undeniable human presence therein.

Nature Torte is the inevitable unification of the shared stories of two things that could not seem more different: the natural world… and cake. The two are both representatives of impermanences, though the timescales of their lives are drastically different. They both have extremely fragile natures that require balance, while being surprisingly sturdy in spite of their delicacy. And both are often viewed as objects of consumption—and thus, desire—in current media: the physical consumption of dessert and the touristic, environmental consumption of the desert.