Sienna Shields

Alaska-born artist Sienna Shields (b. 1976) is an interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker whose expansive career spans over two decades, with explorations in large-scale paintings, collages, bead sculptures, and film. Her work delves into themes of cultural memory, community and wanderlust.

Shields’ visual work is best known for its intricate, abstract collages made from torn and reassembled paper, which evoke a sense of fragmentation and transformation. Her art often navigates personal and collective histories, grappling with the complexities of migration, memory, and identity. In addition to her paper-based works, she uses hair beads and rollers to create large scale sculptures that allude to server rooms and plasma synapses.

Shields’ first solo exhibition in Los Angeles, Between Dispersal & Recovery, was held at Rusha & Co. in 2023. Her work has been exhibited at Studio Museum In Harlem, New York; Whitney Museum,New York; Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Seattle; Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam, Netherlands; International Center of Photography Museum, New York; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; and University of Michigan Museum of Art. In addition to her individual practice, she has played a central role in the HowDoYouSayYaminAfrican? artist collective, serving as its chief organizer and director of digital projects.

With a practice that intersects queer spaces, Black culture, and technology, Shields continues to challenge conventional narratives and forms. Her work is a meditation on the fluidity of identity and the intersections of culture and technology, offering new ways of imagining Blackness and the future. Through her paintings, sculptures, and films, Shields pushes the boundaries of artistic expression, building worlds that invite us to reconsider how we navigate identity, culture, and the cosmos.