Shaqe Kalaj

Shaqe Kalaj (pronounced shacha call-eye) (b.1968) is an Albanian-American mixed-media artist, born in Montenegro (former Yugoslavia). She was raised in Livonia, Michigan, and currently resides there. Shaqe defines herself as a content-based artist, where autobiography plays a role in the context of her work. Her life and perceptions are drawn upon for the content and direction of each body of work. Since art and life are synonymous for Kalaj, every aspect of life is open to inspection and is expressed through the symbolism and mood of her work. Transformation, both physical and emotional, is the guiding idea in all her work. Her work has been exhibited at galleries, universities, festivals, and museums nationally and internationally, including The Museum of Modern Art in Saitama, Japan, and most recently, the 6th UIWANG International Placard Art Festival 2008 in Kyunggido, Korea; US exhibitions have included the Minnesota National Print Biennial, Tweed Museum of Art, Birmingham, MN; 31st Annual Juried Competition, Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA.; solo exhibition at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham, MI; Human Form-Photography Exhibition at the Stepping Stone Gallery, Huntington, NY; 2nd Biennial National Print Exhibition, NAU Art Museum, Flagstaff, AZ, and 27th Bradley National Print and Drawing Exhibition, Bradley University, Peoria, IL. She co-authored a book, The Unborn Muse of Shadows, in 2003.

Kalaj often uses her work to bring attention to social issues that she finds important.. For example, through her “Little Girl” series of paintings, she advocates for children and the sensitive nature of sexual abuse. Further, with the American Woman woodcut, Shaqe aims to create dialogue about gender issues. She has spoken to students at the middle school and university level about these topics. Her upcoming series about the farm industry, Eat Me, will be an analysis of our food industry through the perspective of the animals we eat, while also addressing health issues and taking a feminist view.

I grew up in two cultures, a fact that has influenced my work as an artist as well as my views on feminism. I lived in America, but found myself a part of a different culture when I went to Albania. This division allowed me to see differences among cultures, specifically about gender. As a young girl, I wanted to be American. I wanted the freedom that I saw given to women in American pop culture. But at a young age, I was pressured to marry an Albanian man. I refused to marry him and I ran away from the situation. Afterward, as I immersed myself in American culture, I became very aware that women are not as free as I had initially perceived them to be. The cultural divide that I experienced was pivotal in understanding my direction as a woman and as an artist who deals with gender topics. It was through feminism that I began to understand why content and the depicting of women was a need that I had to fill. For example, the woodcut American Woman is autobiographical in nature and illustrates my perception of the struggle that exists for American women. My recent Little Girl painting depicts the confrontation of two little girls who look to the viewer to question how they have been betrayed. This is subtly implied through the symbols of the dolls. Little Girl portraits are also part of this series. They are an act of honoring women as little girls. It has been this thread of depicting women that has transformed me and my direction as an artist. As an artist, I am more concerned with content and message than medium or style. I adjust what is necessary to communicate the best I can to my audience. Regarding my content, I consider myself to be an activist.