ALUMNX NEWS: Shanta Lee & Damon Honeycutt Collaborate on New Exhibition
In 2024, VCFA MFA in Writing and MFA in Music Composition alumnx Shanta Lee (W ‘21) and Damon Honeycutt (MC ‘16) collaborated on the multimedia exhibition “Dark Goddess: Sacroprofanity.” Held from April 27 – August 11, 2024 at the Bennington Museum in Bennington, VT, “Dark Goddess: Sacroprofanity” features photography by Lee and sonic elements by Honeycutt in response to and exploration of the guiding question What does it mean to embody the Dark Goddess?
About the exhibition:
[“Dark Goddess: Sacroprofanity”] is a mix of ethnography, cultural anthropology, an exploration of the sacredfeminine, and a co-creation with each of the individuals featured. At the Bennington Museum, the work takes on a different dimension including a new collaborative element between artists Damon Honeycutt and Shanta Lee as they 
explore the questions: What does it mean to embody the Dark Goddess? If one were to discover a grimoire of the Dark Goddess, how would it speak to the reader through visuals and sound? The work will include some of Shanta Lee’s photographic images for “Dark Goddess: Sacroprofanity,” items selected from the Bennington Museum’s permanent collection, and a digital installation accompanied by a sonic element created by composer, performing artist, and academic Damon Honeycutt specifically for this iteration of the exhibition. “Dark Goddess: Sacroprofanity” is an invitation to the audience to walk between the timed and the timeless, between the sacred and profane, the authentic identities we create for ourselves versus what others place upon us, how we define who and what we see through those lenses, and how is all of this embodied in ways that create our reality. As Re, one of the models/collaborators who is also The Mórrigan within the series has framed it, to the viewer encountering the Dark Goddess, “It is either profound or profane.”
Visit the Bennington Museum to explore more. Click here to learn about the May 18, 2024 workshop that Damon and Shanta are offering alongside their artist talk.
Both graduates of VCFA, Lee and Honeycutt spoke to the experience of cross-disciplinary collaboration. As Honeycutt shared: “Engaging in artistic collaboration for me is like creating an intricate web every time, the web is different and unique. In working with Shanta specifically, our focus allowed us to concentrate not only on the details of our artistic endeavor but also the underwriting scope of its presentation and authenticity. Collaboration always informs my art because it is a continued dialogue that invites change and evolution both personally and professionally.”
Lee added “Artistic, and many other kinds of collaboration, busts the illusion of creating one’s art strictly with one’s own fingerprint in one’s own image. As artists, we run the risk of deifying ourselves and encouraging others to feed that pedestal. Ultimately, working with others has always forced me out of my comfort zone, including the ones I did not know existed. Collaborating specifically with Damon has been a constant invitation to elevate how I consider my art, how I consider curating, and my overall approach for so many things beyond.”
Learn more about attending the exhibit at the Bennington Museum here, and learn more about Shanta Lee at Shantalee.com and Damon Honeycutt at damonomad.wixsite.com/damonhoneycutt. Additionally, read more about Shanta Lee’s latest book This is How They Teach You How to Want It…The Slaughter (Small Harbor Publishing 2024) here.