MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST

© Keri Sheheen, Parlor Trick Prints LLC

About

Keri Sheheen is a multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Staten Island, NY. She has a profound interest in macabre folklore, unusual history and the strange that is explored through means of illustration, design, printmaking, and vintage forms of animation.With a BFA in Printmaking from SUNY New Paltz, she has exhibited works in galleries and festivals throughout the tri-state area. This work includes screen printed posters, animations converging with printmaking techniques, and stop motion animation. Her inspiration stems from vintage advertising posters, sideshow banners and pulp art.Beyond the gallery scene, Keri has collaborated with Coney Island USA, where she creates hand-painted sideshow banners for their annual Mermaid Parade in Brooklyn. In 2023-2024, she was commissioned by MTA Arts & Design to design 6 windows and a railing for the newly renovated New Dorp Train Station in Staten Island, NY. She is host to the Parlor Trick Print Exchange, a grant-funded printmaking program that invites U.S. artists to create and share small editioned works within a specific theme.In 2021, Keri officially launched Parlor Trick Prints LLC, an online and traveling print company focused on dark, yet whimsical home decor and apparel. In addition to traditional printmaking, she explores inkjet printing onto wood and canvas, and laser cut merchandise. Her company also offers custom print and laser services for small businesses.She currently lives and works from her home studio in New York alongside her partner, Carl, and two cats, Charlie and Evelyn Bean.

© Keri Sheheen, Parlor Trick Prints LLC

PRINTMAKING

© Keri Sheheen, Parlor Trick Prints LLC

ILLUSTRATION & Design

A variety of digital illustration works for clients, as well as my company, Parlor Trick Prints.
Click to learn more about each project.

© Keri Sheheen, Parlor Trick Prints LLC

PARLOR TRICK PRINTS

Parlor Trick Prints LLC is my online and traveling company focused on dark, yet whimsical home decor and apparel. My digitally illustrated designs are translated onto clothing, wooden wall art, and other merchandise using an inkjet (DTG) printer and CO2 laser. This method allows me to create unique, affordable objects for customers at local craft fairs, tattoo expos and festivals in addition to my hand-pulled printmaking works on paper. Everything is made in-house. The natural wood grain of each wall piece makes each piece unique.
See more at: www.parlortrickprints.com

© Keri Sheheen, Parlor Trick Prints LLC

BOOK ILLUSTRATION

Ginger Sea 'Neath the Celtic Moon

"Ginger Sea 'Neath the Celtic Moon" (2024) is a project in collaboration with author and musician Bob Wright. It is an illustrated book about a Grandmother (Nan) and Grandchild (Wred) off the coast of Ireland. Wred is there to learn the family’s traditional skills… boat building, song listening and to study the Atlantic Ocean and its impact on their world and on the world in general. There are 12 full page illustrations and 32 spots/vignettes. The book is accompanied by an album via QR code that ties songs to the illustrations throughout the book. You can find the book at Ingram Spark and hear the music on Bandcamp.This book was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and sponsorship of Citylore.

Full Page Illustration Samples

Spots & Vignettes Samples

Short Miss Bell Mysteries - Volume 1

"Short Miss Bell Mysteries - Volume 1" is a series of short stories by Donna Marie Nowak about an amateur detective named Miss Iodine Bell. From a sinister kidnapper who leaves a snowman as a calling card in Dyker Heights during the Christmas holidays to a Woman in Black who haunts a Cape May Victorian, no riddle is too difficult for the tenacious Miss Bell. You can learn more about this series HERE.

© Keri Sheheen, Parlor Trick Prints LLC

SIDESHOW BANNERS

I had the pleasure of creating a banner line for Hot Fix Sideshow, a collective of internationally touring & award-winning performers, including the current cast of the Coney Island Circus Sideshow. They specialize in fire performance, sword swallowing, glass walking, aerial arts, mentalism, escape acts and feats of strength.

HANDPAINTED BANNERS

I've had the privilege to work with Coney Island USA over the years and keep the hand-painted sideshow banner tradition alive. I've also designed the logo and parade banner for Coney Island Clown Skool an organization committed to clowning around like a professional. To see more hand-painted banners, check out the Mermaid Parade page.

© Keri Sheheen, Parlor Trick Prints LLC

Music Albums

A collection of digital illustrations for various musicians.

© Keri Sheheen, Parlor Trick Prints LLC

Moving Image

© Keri Sheheen, Parlor Trick Prints LLC

Phantasmagoria

BFA in Printmaking Thesis Exhibition

Phantasmagoria is an exploration of serigraph prints that exceed the confines of a 2-dimensional plane. My childhood interests of art, cinema, and optical illusions resurfaced to create a series of six interactive, animated prints that come to life with the help of the viewer’s touch. Each piece was crafted with screen printed posters, plexiglass, and wood. These works were on display at the Dorsky Museum of Art in New Paltz, NY in 2013.

The Scarecrow in Motion
The Jester in Motion
The Acrorats in Motion
The Carnie in Motion
The Lion Tamer in Motion
The Fortune Teller in Motion

© Keri Sheheen, Parlor Trick Prints LLC

Mechanical Flipbooks

This series of mechanical flipbooks are hand built and interactive (2019). Each animation frame is hand painted and then silkscreened on top, making each animation one-of-a-kind. I drew inspiration from hand-painted films of the silent era as well as personal memories of my childhood home.
Boxes crafted by Carl Gallagher. This series was on display in 2020 at Staten Island Art's group show, Dawn of a New Decade.This project was made possible in part by a DCA Premier Grant from Staten Island Arts with public funding from the Department of Cultural Affairs.

Day & Night

The Door

Flowers

© Keri Sheheen, Parlor Trick Prints LLC

PUBLIC WORKS & BANNERS

© Keri Sheheen, Parlor Trick Prints LLC

Creeping on Where Time Has Been

Stainless Steel & laminated glass. Fabricated by Ferra Designs and Mayer of Munich.Commissioned by MTA Arts & DesignPhotography by Sean Sweeney

Creeping On Where Time Has Been is an appreciation of the borough’s historical architecture and includes imagery of notable structures such as the Vanderbilt Mausoleum and New Dorp Beach bungalows. I drew ideas from my research of the station area with the Historic Richmond Town Archive and New York Transit Museum Archive, as well as firsthand accounts from my mother who grew up in New Dorp. I went to high school near the station and currently reside nearby. My inspiration stems from the relationship between New Dorp's natural landscapes and architectural history in the neighborhood over the years. I wanted to create a work that draws attention to Staten Island’s rich history and give riders something beautiful and interesting to look at each day. The artwork title, a line from the poem The Ivy Green by Charles Dickens, is an allusion to the ivy motif that symbolizes the persistence of time and nature’s substantial presence on Staten Island despite manmade developments. Nine cut metal panels line the walkway to the new elevator on the Tottenville-bound side of the station and features blue, yellow, and red glass squares lining the top and bottom of the panels. The colorful border is also seen on the laminated glass panels of the station porticoes and references the stained glass of the original 1889 station house, which was relocated to Historic Richmond Town in 1965. In the metal design, the ivy motif is a backdrop to stylized beach bungalows alluding to New Dorp’s past as a turn-of- the-twentieth-century beach resort destination. The bungalow representations are based on on historic buildings such as the Lang's Hotel, the Elm Tree Lighthouse, the Munger on the Beach Hotel, and the Cedar Grove Clubhouse. The St. George-bound side of the station portico features a towering rooster in a nod to the farmland that once stretched across the neighborhood and acts as a greeter for morning commuters. The rooster stands over Britton Cottage, originally on New Dorp Lane, which was home to famous botanist Nathanial Lord Britton, founder of the New York Botanical Garden. It is one of the oldest structures on Staten Island and was also moved to Historic Richmond town. On the Tottenville-bound side is a serene evening scene for commuters returning home. A deer, common on Staten Island, stands over an illustration of the Vanderbilt Mausoleum located in nearby Moravian Cemetery. Cornelius Vanderbilt owned the New York Central Railroad and one of the first ferry services from Staten Island to Manhattan, indelible contributions to the daily commute of Staten Islanders.

© Keri Sheheen, Parlor Trick Prints LLC

Coney Island Mermaid Parade

Acrylic on Canvas, 2022 - present

Since 1983, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and visitors from across the country — and around the world — have headed to the Coney Island shore for Coney Island USA’s annual Mermaid Parade. Inspired by the Coney Island Mardi Gras parades of old, the Mermaid Parade was transformed by its participants into a new kind of community celebration. By the late 1980s, it was at the top of every list of “must-do” things in New York, and is, without question, the official opening of summer in the city.To see other banner projects click HERE

© Keri Sheheen, Parlor Trick Prints LLC

Contact

Want to reach out?