Washington, DC, 20002
shaylinmw@gmail.com | www.smwvisuals.com
Shaylin Wallace
ARTIST BIO
Shaylin Wallace (b.1999) is a Jamaican-American multidisciplinary artist from Wilmington, Delaware. She is currently based in Washington, DC.
During her freshman year of high school, Wallace began exploring surrealism, intrigued by surreal paintings. Soon after learning about surrealism, she began taking her own photographs and editing them in surrealistic ways. She created photo-manipulations on her cellphone using photo-editing apps such as PicsArt, Snapseed, and VSCO. Her past-time hobby steadily became a passion. When she wasn't in school, she spent her free time making art.
After graduating high school, Wallace decided to become a graphic designer and enrolled at Salisbury University. In the Spring of 2021, she received her BFA in Graphic Design, graduating at the top of her class. With her newfound design knowledge, she began to expand her company, SMW Visuals, freelancing as an artist and graphic designer. With a lot of hard work, dedication, and long nights, Wallace's dream of becoming a full-time artist gradually became her reality. She began receiving incredible freelance projects and commissioned requests from companies such as Adobe, Mercedes-Benz, Scholastics, and Netflix. Shaylin's success as a freelance artist and graphic designer was nothing short of a miracle, but divine alignment. Her work and ideas truly spoke for itself.
Wallace's artworks have been exhibited all over the world and admired by millions of people. In the United States, she has had exhibitions in Washington, DC, Maryland, New York, Georgia, and Miami Art Basel in Florida. Her works have been exhibited overseas in Italy, Portugal, and Dubai. In the fall of 2023, Wallace had her very first solo exhibition at the Delaware Contemporary Platform Gallery in Wilmington, Delaware. Her solo exhibition honored her childhood, her first home, and the city she grew up in. This collection of works was created using her illustrative line art style, pulling on nostalgia and her inner child. Having her first solo exhibition in Wilmington where she grew up was a full-circle moment for Shaylin.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I create surreal digital collages using Photoshop. By digitally combining, cutting and pasting photos together, I turn ordinary images into extraordinary surreal masterpieces. I use collage as a way to capture and bring my innermost thoughts, feelings and imaginative ideas to life. Many of my works center around the divine connection between humans, nature, and the universe. My speciality is blending flowers, portraits and elements of the natural world together, creating a vulnerable, yet stunning series of artworks. I have many unique surreal styles that can be very minimalistic, colorful, amusing or powerful.
I create abstract line drawings, also known as my doodle drawings. In April 2022, I felt called to draw something fun and effortless in Procreate. I began to draw abstract lines and dots until the whole canvas was filled. After my first drawing, I never stopped. Each drawing I created became more detailed and intricate than the last. The primary colors, red, blue, and yellow are my main color palette. Since I can remember, I have always drawn with the primary colors within my digital illustrations, followed by a black background as my canvas. These colors have the perfect balance of contrast as well as a nostalgic feel. As I continue to experiment and explore new concepts, my drawings connect more into the microscopic atmosphere of the universe, DNA, and what our eyes cannot see.
Education
2017-2021
Graphic Design, BFA
Salisbury University - Salisbury, MD
Awards
2025
2025 Canvas of Leadership Grand Prize Winner - Aspen Leadership Seminars
2020
Certificate of Honorable Mention - Envision Arts Show
2017
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards - Silver Medal: Digital Art
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards - Silver Key: Digital Art
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards - Gold Key: Digital Art
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards - Honorable Mention: Art Portfolio
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards - Honorable Mention: Digital Art
Exhibitions
2026
Meet Me At The Altar Group Exhibition, Chris White Gallery, Wilmington, DE
LOOK: An Unexpected Arts Experience, Arlington, VA
2025
Whispers Of The Garden, Virtual Exhibition
CONFAB 2025 Juried Group Exhibition, Washington, DC
VisArts 2025 NEXTGEN 12.0 Group Exhibition, Rockville, MD
SAVOR Group Exhibition, Huntsville, AL
2024
Arts DAO Fest 2.0 Exhibition by Consensus and Linea, Dubai
Shades of Identity Group Exhibition, Chris White Gallery, Wilmington, DE
2023
Surreal Depths Art Exhibition, Atlanta, GA
Solo Exhibition, Shaylin Wallace at the Delaware Contemporary Platform Gallery
Everything but the Kitchen Knife: Collage Group Exhibition, NY, New York
Ode to the Source Exhibition, NY, New York
Surrealism Group Exhibition, Milan, Italy
2022
The Gateway, Art Basel, Miami Beach, FL
Seed The Blockchain Exhibition, Brooklyn, NY
The Drop At Westfield, Women in Web3: Her Dreams Realized Exhibition, NY, New York
2021
Wynwood Studios: Art Basel Exhibition, Miami, FL
International Group Art Exhibition: Hysterica, Milan, Italy and Canary Islands, Spain
Crossroads Group Exhibition: Shay The Surrealist, Atlanta, GA
International Group Art Exhibition: paraíso, Milan, Italy and Canary Islands, Spain
The Ocean Decade Exhibition by the Ocean Agency at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France
UNHINGED! SU 63RD Biannual Senior Exhibition, Salisbury, MD
Contemporary Group Art Exhibition, AD Astra, Genoa, Italy
2020
Focus On Colour Of Life, Paris, France
Focus On Colour of Life Vol.2, Porto, Portugal
Envision Arts Show Exhibition: Beyond
2018
The Shay Mix-It-Up Exhibit, Salisbury, MD