Bronson Shonk | On Perspective ♿

Join us at the Traver Gallery Ship Canal location to see On Perspective, a new exhibition of dimensional paintings by Seattle-based artist Bronson Shonk.

For this exhibition, Shonk paints directly on multiple layers of glass, laminating them together to form works that hover between painting and sculpture. The resulting pieces suspend painted flowers in a transparent depth that amplifies their color and form. Each work becomes at once specimen and memory, an attempt to hold still something that is otherwise fleeting.

“Perspective is not only a set of rules for representing depth,” Shonk explains, “but also a space where perception itself can shift. Just as my image of a flower deepens the longer I observe it, my understanding of people and experiences also changes over time. These works are about honoring that layered way of seeing.”

In On Perspective, Shonk debuts 14 new glass paintings that capture the bulbous volume of hydrangeas, the gesture of blooms, and the clustered delicacy of goldenrod. Working directly from observation, he approaches each subject with a precision that reflects both his training in environmental science and his past career as a data scientist. His glass paintings carry forward traditions of the Japanese landscapes of Hokusai and the dynamism of Italian Futurism, while proposing a contemporary reflection on color, time, and perception. His practice bridges analytic and visual inquiry, asking how we record change across time and how memory shapes what we see.

Bronson Shonk (b. Atlanta, Georgia) holds an International Baccalaureate Diploma in Visual Art and studied Environmental Science and Studio Art at the University of Vermont. After moving to Seattle, Shonk worked as a data scientist for four years before committing full-time to his artistic practice. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including the Seattle Art Fair, Homo Faber in Venice, and Art Miami. His work is included in numerous private collections, such as The Haskell Collection, and has been featured in Whitehot, Glass Quarterly, and Luxe. He has been a resident at Vermont Studio Center. Shonk lives and works in Seattle, Washington.