Ideas emerge from edges and shadows to arrive in the light, and though that’s where they may be seen by others, that’s not where they’re born.”[i]

Since beginning her artistic career in 1976 Carole Shepheard has worked across a variety of media, constantly exploring and developing her art practice while also strongly advocacating for the place of printmaking in the canon of art disciplines.

2006 saw her take early retirement from the University of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts where she was Professor of Fine Art and re-locate, with musician husband John, to Kāwhia. The drivers for the change were a health issue and a desire to take back ownership of her studio practice, but also the urge to work more at a community level.

To this end she set up Te Puti Art Studio for teaching and community art activities and her own studio space.

While working on her doctorate from 2002 (Lieux de Mémoire: the object, the artist and the museum) and setting up the Museum of Cultural Anxiety project in downtown Auckland, she concentrated on object-based art.

Her move to Kāwhia has seen her return to painting and printmaking and more recently has encompassed ceramics.

[i] Rebecca Solnit Quotes. An American writer who has written on a variety of subjects, including feminism, the environment, politics, place and art.