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Bio:

Shawnee Barton is a Texas born artist, writer and poker player living in Austin. She earned her MFA from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, has two kids, and finished second in a World Series of Poker event many years ago.

Artist Statement:

In her work and life Shawnee aims to be thoughtful without taking herself to seriously. She finds humor and personal disclosure to be the places where she best forms meaningful human connections.

After saying that, she feels like she needs to put her money, or her finances more literally, where her mouth is. So she wants you to know that poker has paid for her IVF, life insurance, tattoo removal and a minivan (among other things). Art has cost her more than it's made her, and the money she gets from writing is usually about enough to take her family on a vacation every year. Her spouse pays for the other life stuff.