about shelby
Shelby Slayden (b. 1998) is a fine artist and illustrator residing in Miami, Florida. She graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2020 with a BFA in General Fine Arts and a concentration in Illustration. Slayden documents her childhood spent outdoors, family histories, and the ever-shifting Floridian landscape. Her work primarily explores the contrast between commercial ideas of “paradise” and the realities of many ongoing ecological crises in Miami. She is interested in examining the idiosyncrasies of these themes, using them as a lens through which to observe inner emotional dialogue, personal relationships, and memories of home. Through a variety of mediums such as rug tufting, painting, paper cutting, and garment design, she illustrates reflections of self and the natural world.
PARADISE, her 2020 solo exhibition, featured work ranging from an installation of painted furniture featuring Floridian flora and fauna to machine tufted rugs. Slayden’s tufted work was highlighted for Pile Paragons, Tuft the World’s 2023 exhibition juried by fiber artist Qualesha Woods. In September 2023, Slayden held a solo installation of work, Jalousie Dream in Tunnel Project’s Touché Boutique. This exhibit marked an important transition in Slayden’s work as she moved back to her home city. In December 2024, she collaborated with LoHi Magazine and Caroline Castro to create All Eyes on Deck, a commemorative diorama of The Standard Miami’s pool deck. Immortalized in miniature, real members of The Standard were recreated in clay form, lounging in 3D printed pool chairs or swimming in the pristine resin pool.
