Image above: Margie Sheppard Monument 2 2017 etching edition 25 90 x 79 cm
‘Abstraction allows me to glimpse a deeper truth and I now love to immerse myself in large abstract paintings, putting colours and shapes together in unusual combinations. Getting the colour, shapes, spacial relationships and surfaces ‘right’ is completely absorbing and inspires me to keep creating, innovating and experimenting.’ – Margie Sheppard, 2020
Margie Sheppard’s new paintings and etchings show a transition to the most simple forms, leaving behind the figuration of her previous work. Simplicity and strength dominate. Some of Margie’s paintings are simply suspended rectangles of colour. They are spacious and transcend the everyday. The colours are luminous and become the subject of the paintings.
Her layered abstractions reveal surfaces hovering over more surfaces, densely coloured yet pulsing radiantly. It is a world into which the viewer can fall, absorbed by its depths. Her many years as a printmaker informs her decisions and powerful sense of colour structure.
The etchings are purely abstract but have more visual elements for the viewer to read. Shape, texture and colour all play their part to give visual meaning.
Margie’s upcoming online exhibition ‘Connections in Time’ launches on Thursday 19 November. The exhibition is current until Sunday 10 December. To view the full exhibition, click here.
Image above: Margie Sheppard Pink circle 2020 oil on canvas 120 x 150 cm
In Conversation with Margie Sheppard
In the following Q&A we chat to Margie about her new paintings and etchings, and her artistic inspirations.
What are you currently working on?
I have recently finished creating 3 new prints and have also had an exhibition of paintings this year. I am now hoping for some time to consolidate and take some thinking time after having had such a flurry of activity.
How would you describe your recent works?
The paintings and prints comprise of spherical and other elemental geometric forms that are intersected by linear elements, which in turn form new shapes. One shape launches another and sometimes these are overlayed with other transparent shapes.
You currently work between two mediums – printmaking and painting – what attracts you to each?
Printmaking and editioning are more labour intensive. Painting involves a simple action (say a layer of paint that needs to dry) then lots of thinking time. I’m always working on more than one painting at a time. The two mediums seem to complement each other. They each have a different head space.
More recently your work has focused on abstract forms. What inspires your artistic practice?
The transition to pure abstraction has happened over the last decade. I now need to tap into some deeper emotional space that the narratives and figurative work of the past no longer seemed to satisfy. Abstraction allows me to glimpse a deeper truth and I now love to immerse myself in large abstract paintings, putting colours and shapes together in unusual combinations. Getting the colour, shapes, spacial relationships and surfaces ‘right’ is completely absorbing and inspires me to keep creating, innovating and experimenting.
How do you choose colours for your work?
It’s a matter trying the colours that I initially visualised and adjusting them until they work. With printmaking it means lots of proofing, with paintings just lots of layers of paint.
What prompted you to become an artist or pursue a career in art?
I was encouraged to pursue art when I was still at school and decided to attend Art School after leaving high school – a great choice as it turned out.
Finally, do you have a favourite artist or artwork that inspires you?
My favourite artists are the great abstract expressionists Frank Stellar, Sean Scully, Marc Rothko, all fabulous and too many to name.
Image above: Margie Sheppard Earth signs 2020 edition 30 54 x 117.5 cm