Shen Le
(Formally known as Mattie Hanson)
Mattie Hanson
719-930-0645
沈乐
Biography
Maddie Hanson was born in Nanjing, China and adopted by her Colorado family at age one. From an early age she dove into the arts, starting her education at the Bemis Arts Center in Colorado Springs. Exploring the media of drawing, painting and sculpture, she did not get introduced to photography until her freshman year of high school. Hanson began her formal education at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2011, where she showed in two group exhibitions at the Diego Rivera Gallery and the Abby Hall Gallery. Upon leaving, she continued the rest of her education at the University of Colorado Denver as a BFA photography emphasis student. Her work has recently been shown in the 16x16x16 Photo Exhibition, a traveling exhibition between three colleges in Kansas and Nebraska. Aside from her formal education Hanson has been a self employed photographer for Shen Le Studios since 2010 taking an array of different commercial clients, personal and professional. Hanson was a digital media intern for the Colorado Springs Independent newspaper in the summer of 2012, photographing and filming for several of stories. Her work has been published in four different issues of the Colorado Springs Independent newspaper.
Much of Hanson’s work is influenced by the Chinese Red Thread Proverb which states that, “An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but will never break.” This proverb has been prominent in her family, as well as the adoption community throughout her life. She takes the idea that every connection is an opportunity to affect one another’s story and she utilizes it into her work in an exploration of social issues. Hanson is interested in cultural, social, gender and racial issues and explores these themes in photography, along with other medias such as sculpture. Hanson aims to tie that red thread connection through her perspective on issues that affect all human beings, whether it be directly or indirectly.