Sharnelle Guthrie
I build visual worlds around music, stories, and ideas.
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Beyond the Frame
I was drawn to the impossible density of the original image: strange creatures, vessels, architecture, bodies, and landscapes all occupying the same world. Rather than explain that world, I wanted to treat it as real.
I first experimented with bringing the engraving to life through movement and color, then became curious about what might exist beyond its boundaries. The camera retreats to reveal the artwork inside an old collector’s room, surrounded by objects that seem to share its visual language.
Link to original art: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/383057
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I was drawn to the vessel because its form suggested function: it wasn't simply a figure with an object resting on its head, but something made to hold and pour water. I wondered what would happen if a museum object were allowed to perform that function again. Water became the transition from preserved object to living experience, eventually transforming the figure into a young man swimming freely through a river.
Link to original art: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/246978
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Subchannel 9: Even If You Hide, You Will Be Calibrated
Mixed media · Broadcast horror
An experimental transmission from Subchannel 9, a fictional broadcast world built through corrupted media, institutional language and fragmented lore. I combined mixed media, editing, sound design and original voice performance to make the broadcast itself part of the story while positioning the viewer as its subject.
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Palm Rest Motel
Vertical series · Liminal fiction
A vertical-first episodic series built around a motel whose rules reveal themselves one strange detail at a time. I created the world, narrative progression, visual direction, editing and sound design to turn short-form viewing into an act of discovery.
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