In 20 years work, this artist has created a strong, complex voice for women. Carole Shepheard has altered the way we look at images of women’s and men’s bodies. She has also been at the forefront of printmaking practices, painting, craft and art education discussions, and was recently appointed Deputy Head of Elam School of Fine Arts, at the University of Auckland. She is a dynamo, and her work is subtle and compelling.
The Fisher Gallery is hosting two exhibitions by Carole Shepheard from Saturday 20 June - Sunday 19 August 1998. The first, In Detail, is a survey of Shepheard’s art, the second, Stories For Curious Minds, is a new installation produced for the Fisher Gallery and marking the beginning of Shepheard’s doctoral research.
This is thinking art, not didactic feminism but a subtle blend of domestic and political issues, rendered in a considered way. Shepheard uses everyday processes from craft practices like jewellery, various fibre techniques, as well as multimedia techniques to produce works that are an eclectic mix.
The works surveyed in In Detail include etchings from the Body Cover series, large assemblages like Essence and Shadow, a tufted wool carpet made to her design by Dilana Rugs, jewellery from the Body Trophies series as well as work in other media. She uses the different materials both to their best effect and to present an idea.
‘Surface quality has always been important to the way I work. I particularly enjoy the nature of materials, their inbuilt sometimes unalterable qualities. In this way, the materials have a say in how they behave, how they are used, and what effects can be achieved.’ - Carole Shepheard
For Stories For Curious Minds, Shepheard recreates her own personal museum. Instead of telling the story of a nation, this museum is made up of personal items from Shepheard’s past. Domestic and practical objects that most of us might recognise. Like a cabinet of curiosity for the normal person, the visitor makes connections between the objects.
Download
→ Carole Shepheard: Stories For Curious Minds, 1998, publication
Press
→ Floored by new art form, Eastern Courier, 19-06-1998
→ Through a glass, darkly, Weekend Herald, 04-07-1998
Ephemera
→ Carole Shepheard: Stories For Curious Minds, 1998, exhibition card