THINGS and THOUGHTS by Kerry Shepherdson – Opening

Things inhabit our lives.
Thoughts inhabit our minds.

We curate ourselves, our homes, our desks, our gardens and our spaces with Things.
Things that are Thought to have resonance and impart solace and well-being,
Thoughts that recall, lived experience and knowledge –
Becoming a desire for STILLNESS away from Thoughts of chaos and rush
acquiescing to Thoughts of transience and rhythm in life and attention to Things.

The artist began to think about the things that are accumulated in life, for their practical and desired aesthetic value. They are collected and organised around us in meaningful ways. They tap into memories and experiences that come to emphasize the fast pace of time and relentless ongoing change in our world.

In an attempt to conceptually impede pace and change, the artist began paying attention to things inhabiting familiar spaces and to paint them, in compositions, sometimes in highly evocative ways, which relate to the age old Still Life genre. There is emphasis on form, colour, dimension, visual texture and pattern but the artist intentionally avoids the usual adherence to shadow and light source. Play with fluid paint and schematic brushwork reference her formative Chinese Brush painting training and life-long interest, having lived for many years as an expatriate.