EXHIBITION: CONTOUR SERIES (WORK IN PROGRESS)

The Contour Series forms part of a longer-term project that artist Miriam Sheppard has been developing over a period of time. The aim is to create large-scale abstract works rooted in the landscape. The space provided by Cass Art, Bristol has enabled Miriam to experiment more freely, allowing her to produce a set of larger exploratory “sketches” testing the ground, helping to refine ideas and shape the project’s direction.

This early yet significant phase has grown through research, repeated sketching and the production of studies, each step revealing the landscape’s underlying rhythms. Instead of a literal depiction of a familiar landscape, via abstraction and with a minimalist approach, she has reduced the landscape to essential forms—simple shapes, repeated motifs, and contour lines that evoke movement. Areas of intentional emptiness invite viewers to imagine the terrain themselves. The wall hangings, created on raw canvas, draw on their natural texture, while a series of smaller oil paintings further refine the project’s central ideas.