Clarissa Shanahan is a visual artist, educator and intuitive practitioner whose work explores the intersection of art, symbolism and spiritual inquiry. With a career spanning more than three decades, she brings together classical artistic training, narrative imagery and long-standing study of archetypal and intuitive systems such as tarot.
Shanahan received her BFA from the University of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, with further study at the Art Students League of New York, the New York Academy of Art and the Isabel O'Neal Studio. She spent nearly 20 years working as a scenic artist in the film industry, contributing to numerous productions and developing a strong sense of visual storytelling that continues to inform her painting practice.
Alongside her work as an artist, Shanahan has maintained a deep engagement with symbolic and contemplative traditions. She has studied and practised tarot for more than 30 years and incorporates it as a tool for reflection, creative insight, and personal development. Her approach draws on a broad range of influences, including mythology, colour symbolism, archetypal imagery, and cross-cultural spiritual traditions.
Teaching has been a central part of Shanahan's career. She taught for 18 years at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and has led workshops and courses at institutions including the Getty Center, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and various studios and retreat centres in the United States and Europe. Her teaching brings together artistic practice, symbolic literacy, and intuitive development, encouraging students to explore creativity as a path of self-knowledge.
Shanahan's work is held in museum and private collections internationally. She currently lives and works between locations, maintaining an itinerant studio practice while continuing to teach, paint, and guide others through the language of image, symbol, and intuition.