San Jacinto College South Campus’ art gallery hosted local artist Hana Shoup’s collection on Sept. 4 through Sept. 27.

The brightly lit and compact space of the south campus gallery was the perfect spot to showcase Shoup’s “The Fatal Shore” collection. The showcase featured eight pieces in the series based on the artist’s recent trip to Australia.

Shoup’s recent work leans toward the subject of the self-portrait. Shoup describes this particular collection as a, “combination of fantasy and reality, a mish-mash of historical references, contemporary fashion, and colorful characters,” according to a prepared statement.

Shoup is also fascinated by art history and enjoys taking aspects of different time periods to inspire her work.

“I definitely use the painting as a way to sort of live out a different persona,” Shoup said. “It’s like a fantasy world that I get to inhabit.”

Art Professor Martin Wnuk invited Shoup to prepare an exhibit at San Jac after they met at The Hunting Art Prize competition, which offers an award of $50,000 to the winner. Since both were level two finalists in the competition, the professor said he knew it wouldn’t be a gamble to invite Shoup.

“As soon as I saw her work I thought she was going to win it,” Wnuk said, “Obviously I really love her work, that’s why I invited her here.”

Shoup has impressed the professors and the students love her work as well.

“She’s very intelligent and has a really captivating personality. She really does match her paintings. You can tell how passionate she is about it,” Gallery intern and San Jac student Devin Martinez said.

Aspiring artists can contact Shoup with any questions through her Facebook page, “Hana’s Studio”.