Shana Stern
Los Angeles, CA
“Sitting on the floor, bent over a canvas, covered in paint, my worries evaporate as I lose myself in the music I paint to. For a few hours, I am no longer thinking about my pain or my body. I am color, lyrics and light. In those moments, I am free.”
Los Angeles artist Shana Stern creates immersive abstract paintings inspired by music, dance, storytelling, and the ever-changing relationship between light and color. Born with chromesthesia, a form of synesthesia in which music evokes moving colors, imagery, and sensations, Shana experiences every song as a visual and emotional landscape. Each painting is created to a single song played on repeat from beginning to end, allowing the music to guide every decision. As the song unfolds, sound becomes movement, movement becomes gesture, and gesture becomes paint.
“I have no feeling in my hands due to Multiple Sclerosis, so using a paintbrush isn’t an option. I had to create my own way of painting.” Painting almost exclusively with her fingers, knuckles, and hands, Shana has developed a highly physical process unlike traditional painting. Working on large canvases and sheets of Mylar laid flat on the floor, she puts her body in unusual positions so her face is inches from the canvas allowing her to create unusual textures and shapes. She kneels, hovers, reaches across, and circles each piece as it develops. What began as an adaptation to disability has evolved into a form of choreography. When Multiple Sclerosis and pain gradually took away her ability to dance and later made writing increasingly difficult, she turned to painting as another way to tell stories.
“I’ve always considered myself a storyteller. I wrote my first book at age four, spent years as a screenwriter, and built my life around stories. When dance disappeared and words became harder to find thanks to MS, I wasn’t just grieving activities I loved. I was grieving the languages that helped me understand myself and make sense of the world.” Painting became another language.
“Cognitive fog from Multiple Sclerosis often steals my words when I’m speaking. I lose the names of ordinary objects. I lose my train of thought in a flash. It can be frustrating, isolating and quite humbling. But when I’m painting, I can express myself without needing words.”
Living with Multiple Sclerosis for more than twenty-five years, Shana navigates chronic pain, fatigue, vision challenges, and cognitive changes that shape nearly every aspect of daily life. Yet her work is not about limitations. It is about transformation. The very things that altered the course of her life also led her to discover a creative process unlike any she could have imagined.
Each painting develops slowly and intuitively through dozens of layers. Shana incorporates reflective surfaces, luminous pigments, and materials that interact with changing light, causing the work to reveal itself differently as people move around it. New details, colors, and reflections emerge over time, creating work that seems to ripple and transform. Filled with movement and energy, Shana’s paintings reflect her belief that creativity can flourish even in the face of profound challenges. “My hope is that people lose themselves in the work the same way I lose myself while creating it. For a few moments, I want them to forget whatever they’re carrying and simply experience the piece.” Through light, motion, and emotion, Shana creates work that leaves people feeling connected to beauty, possibility, and their own capacity for transformation.
“I lost myself for a while when I could no longer dance. Discovering I could still dance as I paint infused my life with joy and purpose again. Dance was my first language. Painting became another. It allowed me to realize that there are many paths for me to contribute and create meaning in the world. Through my art I’ve found ways to keep telling stories, connect with others, and share beauty. I will never stop dancing through paint.”
