Occupation: Housewife, conceptual artist Shawnee Barton's first San Diego exhibition, will tickle your funny bone with its whimsy and irreverence, grab your gut with its poignancy, tug at your heartstrings with its emotion and perhaps inspire tears at the impact of today's wretched job market on so many talented people's lives.

Her unemployed artist status, which led a physician's nurse in filling out a form to categorize her as a "housewife," inspired the title of her exhibition at the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, located at 1008 Wall St. in the village, which continues through Nov. 6.

A printmaker, sculptor, fiber artist, photographer, videographer, humorist, creative writer and professional poker player (who finished second in the 2006 World Series of Poker No Limit Hold'Em Ladies' Event), the Texas-born Barton, 31, considers herself a conceptual artist who enjoys working in a wide variety of media.

"I usually start with an idea and then decide what visual output will support it, what the media should be," she says.

This approach to her current exhibition produces an affecting yet satirical commentary on the current state of the (un)employment market.

The quality of her stitchery doesn't reflect it, but Barton only recently took up the time-consuming medium of embroidery. She uses it as a tool to evoke the extra time on her hands, expressing her frustration over her continuing unemployment.

The results include a whimsical framed set of embroidered "Misfortune" Cookies complete with less-than-upbeat fortunes, a pair of embroidered graphs comparing her rising cynicism and declining self-esteem against her length of time looking for work, plus two years' of silk-screened tax forms showing her decreased income, adorned by beautifully embroidered roses.

Other works in the show are the satirical Pink Slip, a "confidential" letter to herself terminating her employment, printed on pink paper and full of biting humor; a funny depiction of her newly gained knowledge of day-time television; and several other multi-media works.

"A conceptual artist values the ideas, concepts and intentions behind and involved in a work more than, or at least as much as, the aesthetics of the objects or work. Mainly, I try to present an idea or concept to viewers and the vehicle I use to do that is an object of some sort," she explains.

Barton's work hangs in the Rotunda, a spatially challenging area reserved for newer or emerging artists chosen "for their promise for the future," says Executive Director Erika Torri, who shaped the Athenaeum into a showcase focusing primarily on San Diego artists.

"Once we select the artists, we don't curate the show. We give them some guidelines and sometimes they do a special show. For some artists it's a difficult space. For others, it's inspirational," she says.

For Barton, the nature of the space meant she had to do more two-dimensional works rather than the three-dimensional art she often favors. Samples of earlier projects, including her Artist: Unemployed series which includes her Occupation: Housewife works, are shown on her website, which also links to her roaming posts on others' blogs.

Barton moved to San Diego about two and a half years ago with her husband, a deputy U.S. attorney, from Chicago, where she completed a master of fine arts in print media at the Art Institute of Chicago. An "outdoorsy" person, she missed California, where she had previously worked in the arts, art education and development in the Bay Area.

Marie Vickers, now an independent art curator and production director for Art San Diego—Beyond the Border and a member of the Athenaeum Art Committee, met Barton at the New Children's Museum and arranged for Barton to exhibit her work at the Athenaeum.

"I liked the feminine perspective. It was humorous, fresh and very personal. I liked that it wasn't all one genre, that she was unemployed and finding some humor in it. I thought it was a really good fit [for the Rotunda]—an emerging artist, new to San Diego, with interesting, funny work," Vickers says.

Also on exhibit through Nov. 6 in the main gallery, which showcases established artists, is Appellations, paintings by Gail Roberts, winner of the 2010 San Diego Art Prize, and expressive jewelry, shown in books altered to become presentation boxes, by Sondra Sherman.

For more information about the exhibitions and programs, visit the Athenaeum's website or call 858-454-5872.