From an episode of Gossip Girl to parties at MoMA, London-born artist Shantell Martin has performed her signature iPad-spun light shows all over the place. Her live showcases—where she draws, VJs, and projects her sketch’s evolution onto a giant screen—have made her a darling of the digital art world, which has embraced her innovative mixture of art, technology, and performance with open arms.
Martin puts her drawings (which look like black and white skeletons of Surrealist paintings) onto every surface she can get her hands on: napkins, tables, cars, denim, and even her own skin. Usually done with fine-tipped pens purchased from Blick, her doodles are made of a single continuous line. She hand-draws her work on fifteen-piece limited edition sweatshirts and collaborated with Nike to reinterpret a lime green-colored pair of kicks for the fortieth anniversary of its iconic Cortez shoe. The New York Times recently profiled her Bed-Stuy apartment, putting its white walls (which have been covered in her detailed scrawls) center stage. Her doodles are so fantastic, people started to offer up their own bodies as canvases for her work.
Keep up to date with Martin’s ever-growing project list here.


















