Kate Shepherd

“In the studio, I make an effort to execute new ideas before explaining them away, so as not to lose momentum and a personal connection to the process. Afterwards, I try to avoid “storytelling” in the hope and belief that the work can speak for itself. I try to speak about my work honestly, which is hard to do because by the time the work is done, I have forgotten a lot. Essentially, the response of the viewer (friend, dealer, collector) is the last element of “support,” which helps me to understand the effectiveness of my expression and intention.”
Kate Shepherd

Kate Shepherd’s two paintings were each created the same way and yet the small differences between them lay bare the strength of the final actions the artist makes upon the panels. Each piece is painted with numerous colors, then a “resist” is put on the surface, a monochrome layer of blue/grey/black is painted across the entire surface, the “resist” is removed, thus exposing the underlying colors and then thin whitish lines of oil paint are delicately painted across the surface. In “Rain Bow,” the lines create a grid (on the bias) of squares with hatch marks. In “De L’Announce,” the hatch marks are gone and the grid is of parallelograms. Both paintings seemingly reference some sort of chart of the night sky and yet they also are abstract compositions that allow a viewer to see depth, flatness, color and the monochrome all at the same time.

Kate Shepherd was born and raised in New York City. She received her MFA from the School of Visual Arts in 1990. She has been a resident at Skowhegan, the MacDowell Colony, and the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas. Her work appears in numerous international public and private collections.