Rotations Around the Sun at Sarah Shepard Gallery

Larkspur, California | December 1, 2018 - January 19, 2019

The inaugural exhibition at Sarah Shepard Gallery welcomes Bay Area artist Kelly Ording with a group of 21 works in Rotations Around The Sun.

Trained as a ceramicist studying pottery in New Zealand, Ording migrated to painting during her career at the San Francisco Art Institute. Inspired by Asian art growing up, she found interest in Chinese prints and scrolls, narrowing in on the tonality and texture of the paper which has become the foundation for many of her works. Employing a process of soaking her papers with liquids and salts, this first step informs the conversation about the piece and where it eventually goes. The complexity of the paper creates a critical jumping off point for the interaction between her contemporary use of color, line and pattern. Never tiring of the first step in her process of dying the paper, she lets this be a starting point for the work letting causes and occurrences unfold before she starts painting.

With experience, Ording has refined her control of the process, but there is still an element of surprise that occurs within the paper dying process. Ording’s works can be classified into one of several different styles, producing different but interconnected outcomes. Living in the Bay Area inspires abstract landscape works, embracing elements such as water, fog, wind - subtle suggestions of these invite the viewer to use their imagination and create their own viewing experience.

On the other end of the spectrum are Ording’s geometric, mathematical and decisive works which follow a pre-meditated plan of color, shape and lines. This exhibition is a collection of work from the last three years and represents Ording’s refined technique distinguished by her consistent use of bold color and meditative line work.