“The overlap between art and science isn’t always obvious, but it’s often where the most interesting ideas emerge,” said Shantell Martin, ​the first Artist-in-Residence at USC Viterbi’s Information Sciences Institute (ISI). Martin, a celebrated visual artist known for her bold black-and-white line drawings, now based in ISI’s Marina del Rey, California, offices, brings a wealth of experience working at the intersection of art, technology, and research.

Recent notable work includes The Path: A Meditation of Lines, which turned Times Square’s Broadway Plaza into a space for reflection from October 1 to November 20, 2024. The 160-foot mural between 47th and 48th Streets included a meditative walking path and guided audio meditations created by Martin. In September 2024, she created an immersive exhibition across public spaces at Rockefeller Center, transforming the iconic site into an artistic experience that invited visitors to engage with her flowing designs. In Los Angeles, her Intimate Whispers exhibition explored the dialogues we have with our inner selves, bringing her personal artistic themes to a broader audience.

Other projects include the 200-foot mural Dance Everyday in Buffalo, New York, which she drew in May 2018, celebrating the community’s diversity; and an interactive installation in the Oculus at New York’s World Trade Center that encouraged reflection with prompts like “Who Are You?” Not all of her work is on such a grand scale, however; in a collaboration with Mattel, Martin reimagined the iconic UNO deck. Her work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum, Denver Art Museum, New Britain Museum of American Art, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, MoMA, Albright-Knox Art Museum, Brooklyn Museum, and more.

“Shantell’s residency demonstrates ISI’s commitment to exploring new approaches to innovation and collaboration,” said Craig Knoblock, the Keston Executive Director of ISI. “Her ability to distill complex ideas into visual narratives will challenge us to think differently and find creative solutions to the problems we tackle.”

A Winding Path from London to ISI

Martin’s journey to ISI has been as dynamic and non-linear as the bold lines that define her art. Born in London to a working-class family, she grew up navigating a mixed-race identity in a world that often felt contradictory. Drawing became her constant—a way to create clarity and connection.

Her artistic career formally began at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, where she studied graphic design and graduated with honors in 2003. After college, Martin moved to Japan, where her distinctive black-and-white line-drawing style took shape. Immersed in the underground art and music scenes, she performed live visual projections, honing her improvisational skills and refining the simplicity and flow that are hallmarks of her work today.

In 2009, Martin moved to New York City, where her art expanded into large-scale public projects, installations, and collaborations with major cultural institutions. Whether painting a mural, publishing a nine-foot-long coloring book, or collaborating with Kendrick Lamar, Martin’s work may vary in size and medium, but consistently explores themes of identity, connection, and reflection.

Now, her path has led her to ISI, where she brings a fresh artistic perspective to an environment rooted in innovation and exploration.

Collaborations with Global Brands

Throughout her career, Martin has collaborated with a variety of globally recognized brands, showcasing her ability to adapt her artistic vision to diverse contexts and work with a wide range of partners. With Nike, she designed custom sneakers that featured her iconic flowing lines, while her work with Puma resulted in a line of apparel blending her bold aesthetic with wearable fashion. Her partnership with the New York City Ballet led to visually striking backdrops for live performances, seamlessly integrating her art into a dynamic stage environment. Collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, Tiffany & Co., Vespa, and more highlight her ability to tailor her unique style to projects spanning fashion, music, luxury goods, and transportation.

Martin’s success in collaborating across a broad spectrum of industries highlights her versatility and her ability to merge creative expression with diverse goals and audiences. This collaborative spirit aligns with ISI’s mission, where her artistic perspective will intersect with the institute’s cutting-edge research and technological expertise. Her residency promises to bring new ways of thinking to ISI’s interdisciplinary environment, fostering innovative partnerships and creative breakthroughs.

Collaborative Potential at ISI

At ISI, Martin hopes to draw inspiration from its researchers and their work, exploring creative possibilities in fields such as artificial intelligence, data visualization, and human-computer interaction. “There’s something exciting about being in a space where the future is being shaped,” she remarked. Her plans include bringing her experience with storytelling and spatial design into dialogue with the institute’s technical expertise, potentially leading to new modes of visualizing complex ideas or creating interactive art-science experiences.

Martin will not only contribute her own artistic perspective but also work to foster creativity within the broader ISI community. She envisions hosting workshops on visual thinking, collaborative installations with ISI researchers, and conversations about how artistic methods can aid problem-solving in technical fields. “Art can be a tool to see things differently,” she said. “It’s about asking questions and finding meaning in places you might not have looked before.”