Abstract:
Known for her richly colored paintings built with layers of monochromatic enamel, Kate Shepherd’s decades-long exploration of perspectival space investigates the relationship of paintings to their environs; the various reflective surfaces establishing a spatial discourse across the panel, the viewer, and the gallery space. Panels in materials like wood and aluminum that connote the architecture for which the paint is meant form the basis of the paintings. This method results in a gleaming, reflective surface, which allows the viewers to see their own reflections and also guards the intimate image from view. Using methods such as hand painting thin linear constructions and interrupting the surface by sanding the glossy enamel, Shepherd incorporates geometric forms in her work that imply dimensional space on the two-dimensional surface. Being situationally reactive to light and movement, the paintings take on sculptural characteristics in their constant change. The artist’s oeuvre also encompasses works on paper, which examine her constantly evolving exploration of color.