ARTIST BIO
Shelby Silver is a multidisciplinary ecological artist, intergenerational educator, and public speaker.
Her work is focused on oceanic conservation through the collection of plastic marine debris from our seas and local beaches. Shelby was born in Grays Harbor Washington near the Pacific Ocean and grew up on a llama ranch, upon the traditional homelands of the Quinault Indian Nation, where her work as a young fiber artist served to influence and inform her current process. As a child, Shelby’s favorite natural outdoor space was the beach where she observed the ocean’s ability to heal, provide nourishment, and ultimately bring people together. As a result, her early childhood experiences nurtured her stewardship values, and along with them her passion to preserve and protect our oceans.
Today Shelby’s work explores the intertwining relationships between humankind and nature, and the overall role they play in service of one another. From her paintings, paper making, illustrations, reclaimed marine rope basket sculptures, tapestries, large scale installations, art classes, and more, Shelby demonstrates these connections by pulling salvaged plastic marine debris materials into her practice. Her most recent body of work includes paper that she has made with twenty years of personally collected ephemera including her own writing, and then pressing the plastic marine debris into the pulp. This collection titled Palpable Pulp & Lasting Impressions intimately examines impermanence and the starkly contrasted longevity of plastic marine debris across the life course perspective, and within the human condition during the Anthropocene.
She now resides in rural Western Oregon on The Healing Land & Water Way Project founded by her partner and herself and upon the sacred indigenous territory of the Kalapuya people. This is where Shelby calls home. She lives in a small cottage with her partner and their cat, and it is there she works from her attached studio. Shelby still spins llama, alpaca, and sheep’s wool on the Ashford spinning wheel she’s had for twenty-seven years and weaves the yarn into her tapestries as a means of paying homage to her upbringing.
Shelby is a certified scuba diver, holds two degrees from Portland Community College, one in the Applied Science of Gerontology with specialized training and focus in whole person care, and another in General Studies with focus in psychology. She is a certified professional activity director, is currently pursuing a B.A. in psychology through Portland State University, and has become a certified End of Life Doula through The Conscious Dying Institute in efforts of providing deeper support to our collective community.
She has taught with and through Cannon Beach Art Association, Unity Spiritual Center, Portland Community College, Northwind Art, Port Townsend Marine Science Center, her own business Salt of Earth & Sea Studio LLC., and in many more contexts.
“Remembering our connection is remembering our responsibility to earth, sea & all living beings.”
- Shelby Silver
Her work is focused on oceanic conservation through the collection of plastic marine debris from our seas and local beaches. Shelby was born in Grays Harbor Washington near the Pacific Ocean and grew up on a llama ranch, upon the traditional homelands of the Quinault Indian Nation, where her work as a young fiber artist served to influence and inform her current process. As a child, Shelby’s favorite natural outdoor space was the beach where she observed the ocean’s ability to heal, provide nourishment, and ultimately bring people together. As a result, her early childhood experiences nurtured her stewardship values, and along with them her passion to preserve and protect our oceans.
Today Shelby’s work explores the intertwining relationships between humankind and nature, and the overall role they play in service of one another. From her paintings, paper making, illustrations, reclaimed marine rope basket sculptures, tapestries, large scale installations, art classes, and more, Shelby demonstrates these connections by pulling salvaged plastic marine debris materials into her practice. Her most recent body of work includes paper that she has made with twenty years of personally collected ephemera including her own writing, and then pressing the plastic marine debris into the pulp. This collection titled Palpable Pulp & Lasting Impressions intimately examines impermanence and the starkly contrasted longevity of plastic marine debris across the life course perspective, and within the human condition during the Anthropocene.
She now resides in rural Western Oregon on The Healing Land & Water Way Project founded by her partner and herself and upon the sacred indigenous territory of the Kalapuya people. This is where Shelby calls home. She lives in a small cottage with her partner and their cat, and it is there she works from her attached studio. Shelby still spins llama, alpaca, and sheep’s wool on the Ashford spinning wheel she’s had for twenty-seven years and weaves the yarn into her tapestries as a means of paying homage to her upbringing.
Shelby is a certified scuba diver, holds two degrees from Portland Community College, one in the Applied Science of Gerontology with specialized training and focus in whole person care, and another in General Studies with focus in psychology. She is a certified professional activity director, is currently pursuing a B.A. in psychology through Portland State University, and has become a certified End of Life Doula through The Conscious Dying Institute in efforts of providing deeper support to our collective community.
She has taught with and through Cannon Beach Art Association, Unity Spiritual Center, Portland Community College, Northwind Art, Port Townsend Marine Science Center, her own business Salt of Earth & Sea Studio LLC., and in many more contexts.
“Remembering our connection is remembering our responsibility to earth, sea & all living beings.”
- Shelby Silver