The Luck or Misfortune of Geography

The exhibition presents sculptural works born of a Lebanese-American mother's dissonance: raising children in the safety of the United States while watching children suffer in the current conflict in Lebanon and Palestine. Shaban mourns those lost to the war, children who, but for an accident of geography, might have been her own. The Luck or Misfortune of Geography renders this crisis through a mother's eyes. Her sculptures give form to that sorrow, but also to her joy that a culture she holds dear endures.

Hannah Shaban (Lebanese-American, b. 1991) is a North Carolina-based sculpture and installation artist. She earned her BFA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has completed residences at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine, and is a collective member of Goodyear Arts in Charlotte, NC. Her work has been exhibited nationally, including at the Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC; McColl Center, Charlotte, NC; District Clay Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Artspace, Richmond, VA; and Goodyear Gallery, Charlotte, NC. Shaban’s work has also been featured in several publications, including RVA Magazine, QC Life, Charlotte Magazine, The Charlotte News, and Charlotte Observer. She currently sits on the board of Goodyear Arts, Charlotte. The artist lives and works in Charlotte, NC.