Columns, Two Planes

Shepherd’s latest work continues to address the particular physical qualities of reflective enamel paint. She now sands down the foundation until it is velvety and then adds an image with the unadulterated paint. The matte surface emphasizes the highly-reflective, glossy shapes as well as the activity outside the painting that is now reflected in/on it. Visual “intrusions” help to deepen the artistic decisions because of the forever-changing encounters of happenstance reflections. Previous compositions can be detected in pentimenti lending a richness to the surface.

Shepherd uses the language of architectural space by defining glossy shapes that suggest the gravity of a fictitious environment. Quadrilateral forms (which the artist calls “surrogate paintings”) guide the viewer’s reading of the picture plane. The color used in this new painting is blue, a color that is both neutral and atmospheric. In an almost imperceptible way, the tones of blue shift throughout all the elements serving to give the impression of light and shadow. The painting’s abstraction allows an openness because the depicted space doesn’t make a totally obvious reference. Object, painting, reflection, and time become incredibly particular and yet stay open-ended.