“Printed Matters: While Supplies Last” addresses environmental and social challenges facing our planet using several approaches to image-making that I find versatile and impactful. Printing has long been a cornerstone of my art practice because it yields powerful graphic impact and allows for wide distribution and audience accessibility. Print-making synthesizes beauty, power, and utility with latitude for creative experimentation. Beyond producing prints for purely practical reasons, I also enjoy embellishing utilitarian printing techniques by printing on wood, metal, and canvas and incorporating stencilling back into the work. Many of these pieces become one-of-a-kind mixed media paintings.
I often approach my art in modular ways utilizing repetition and re-combination for practical and conceptual reasons. I like the hypnotic repetition of patterns, while I also see them as a pleasing decorative device to balance the more confrontational nature of some of my messages. Flowers are a recurrent motif in my work as symbols of positive growth and harmony. Humour is also a way I deliver challenging statements. The phrase “While Supplies Last” playfully references the supposed obsolescence of print, along with the idea that things like flowers will be sorely missed when the scorched planet will no longer grow them. “While Supplies Last” is a reminder to protect and preserve the environment but also the social values and institutions that benefit humanity.
– Shepard
