Eye on Small Business by Jeremy Wayne – Monica Shulman, Dobbs Ferry

Monica Shulman is a Dobbs Ferry-based artist whose brand of gestural abstraction is, she said, a form of storytelling. Rooted in the traditions of Abstract Expressionism, Shulman’s world is best described as colorful and rhythmic, and her paintings reflect an evolving universe where communication is less concrete.

Not everything in her world is quite as “fluid,” however.

A former attorney who speaks three languages (but said she has to brush up on her French), she started her career as a fine art photographer, an experience that she said created “a strong sense of light, structure and subject.”

Primarily self-taught, she creates sculptural surfaces through her heavily layered impasto technique and her paintings exhibit a compulsive energy and the dynamic tension between, in her own words, “reckless abandon and careful restraint.”

In “The Storm We Weathered” collection of oil paintings she created in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Shulman explores themes of self-reflection, the human condition, community and her own identity. She explains that her materials, oil paints and pastels, are active participants in her work. If that sounds overly cerebral, the reality, as with all Shulman’s work, is paintings that are full of life, color and some degree of form. And – in layman’s terms – they are both commercial and extremely companionable.

A first-generation American, she is strongly tied to both her Cuban and Argentinian roots.

She and her husband have two children, a 14-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son (as well as their “third child” – their 7 ½-year-old Cavapoo.)  On the question of balancing home life with discipline as an artist, she said she simply tries to be “intentional” with her time and her attention.

 

“My family and our home are my priority and my kids need me, so in this season of life, my focus is on that.”

 

Having said that, though, she loves her work and is ambitious. “There are times when I’m very busy and being pulled in a lot of different directions.”

With a studio at 145 Palisade St. in Dobbs Ferry, she is also refreshingly frank about being “commercial” – essential, of course, for any successful artist. She has worked with private collectors, art dealers, TV producers, interior designers, bloggers, influencers, real estate developers, galleries, curators, shop owners and more and is always keen to talk about colllabration on any artistic project.

She mostly promotes her art on social media and also sells a lot of work through word of mouth, galleries, art dealers, retail stores and on a variety of different websites and platforms, such as Chairish. She also spends a lot of time networking, both online and in person.

“Most of my clients are private collectors,” she said,  “though a long-term goal of mine is to be in corporate collections.”

She has been featured in various publications, including The Washington Post, Popular Photography, Create Magazine and Art Seen.  She was inducted into The National Association of Women Artists (NAWA) in 2022, and her work has been shown at NAWA,  the American Academy of Arts and Letters, The National Arts Club; the New York Mercantile Exchange, all in Manhattan; Pulse Art Fair in Miami; and Frieze Los Angeles, among others.

“Abstraction feels liberating and there’s no fixed narrative, so the story can change at any moment and that’s OK,” she said. “I work to provoke a vivid, emotional response but also leave an impression of uncertainty.”

 

This may well be true, but there is nothing uncertain about Monica Shulman’s artistic talent, her business acumen or, it seems, success in everything she commits to.