Artist of the Month - Katy Shepherd
Posted 20 February 2024
Our Artist of the Month for February is Dorset Visual Arts' Member Katy Shepherd. Her most recent animation 'Bedroom Scenes' is included in the 2023 Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing prize exhibition, which is currently on show at The Gallery at Arts University Bournemouth until Tuesday 16th April.
Imaginary Daughter - Katy Shepherd
Here is what she had to say about her practice and working in Dorset: Although I have my roots firmly in painting and drawing (I completed a painting MA at the Royal College of Art in 1991) I am currently a multidisciplinary artist who has included animation in their practice since 1995. My starting point was a fascination for the possibilities of “breathing life” into a still image via animation (re-animation). By digitally manipulating old family photographs I created tiny looping films which lead to years of exploration around the themes of loss and memory. Over time the themes have expanded to include extinction and our response to the world we currently find ourselves living in. Around 2010 I began calling upon my painting background by utilising my skills to make hand drawn animations using old school/low tech methods. As a completely self-taught filmmaker my approach to animation is more akin to the less restrained practice of painting; I see no restrictions re dimensions and instead of referencing a storyboard I just follow my instincts and see where the process takes me.
I have continued to paint alongside filmmaking, exploring many of the same themes. Creating a painting gives me the contrasting challenge of distilling everything I want to say into a single image.
My films have been shown in exhibitions and film festivals both in the UK and abroad. My animation “Imaginary Daughter” has been included in the 6th John Ruskin Prize exhibition at Trinity Buoy Wharf which ended on the February 17th. My painting “Bedscape” was included in the RA Summer Exhibition in 2023.
Bedscape - Katy Shepherd
Dorset is my place of birth and returning to it after over 30 years in London has revived memories of my childhood that have informed many of my films, drawings, and paintings, in recent years. The tranquillity and beauty of my current location plus the reduction of demands on my time have helped me concentrate on my work and consequently most of my projects have made it to fruition!
You can find out more about Katy Shepherd's work on her Dorset Visual Arts' Member profile, her Instagram, and her website.