JULIA SHEPLEY

My work focuses on moments of physical transition referencing the built environment and forces of nature. In my studio, I alternate between sculpture, drawing and printmaking in order to allow for new perspectives and ideas to emerge in the development of each body of work. My sculpture, prints and drawings are constructed in structural layers which rely on information obtained from observational drawing and photography. These layers are reiterated, revealed and obscured in order to allow light and shadow to become part of the image, resulting in an implication of movement, a sense of depth and permeable space, and a shift of perspective. I use thread and waxed linen both as joinery and as mark-making or drawing.

I have developed skills over the years in a wide range of media out of curiosity for exploring the unknown. Changing circumstances and environments in childhood and travel as an adult influenced an interest in making works of art that imply a physical journey through the layers of story, structure and space. I have always liked working with my hands and as a teen I made my own clothing and drew. My figurative art school training in sculpture at BU school of fine arts instilled a passion for drawing and the corporal along with a proficiency in clay, plaster, wood, and print media. In the early part of my career, I also worked as a carpenter renovating houses acquiring skills in building re-design and material problem-solving. Over the years I have taken classes or taught myself skills in pattern-making, stitching, kiln-formed glass, basketry, cast and formed paper, photography and printmaking. All of these methods inform my work.

In the print Night Tracking #1, I first made multiple prints from two photo-etched plates--one bearing an image  of a figure using a spotlight to search for wildlife, and the second of a shadow created by one of my mobile sculptures on a wall--onto  cloth mesh and silk. I then layered the prints and combined them with stitched marks into a dimensional image.

The sculpture Carry is made from bent wood and bamboo, bound and tethered with waxed linen and completed by a cast shadow behind. This is part of a series of work inspired by a combination of medical stretchers and historical ceremonial hand-carried litters with chairs from Africa and Asia used to carry dignitaries, chiefs and colonialists. I partially grew up in Sierra Leone, and have traveled in Asia where I saw various hand carried litters in museums.

Walking Window #1, is one in a series of four wood and mixed media sculptures which together with directed light and cast shadow appear to be in the process of reassembly and movement in concert with each other. The components reference natural forces, house window and fence frameworks and their shifting shadows. The wood and bamboo parts are joined together with waxed linen and brass wire.

All four installed together span approximately eight linear feet

Puff is an ink and pencil drawing combined with three-dimensional stitched components to convey a sense of passage and a breath.

Inhabit is constructed of a woodblock print on plastic vellum with cut openings, supported by a woven bamboo structure and completed by its cast shadow on the wall. Nature imagery in the print combines with an architectural structure and shadow.

At present I am working on sculpture and drawings related to the “Carry” series, and formulating ideas to fabricate a functional light table with a glass top and suspended elements.  This entails making sketches and fabricating parts for sculpture and drawing which includes:  3-D stitching that may become part of a drawing; wood, bamboo and waxed linen components that could be part of a sculpture or drawing; ink drawings on plastic vellum that could become part of a sculpture, etc.

I am inspired by the physical and graphic opportunities that come from combining the components and joinery methods of different disciplines.

 www.juliashepley.com