Little Lives

Looking out, looking in

Little Lives began with a light coming on across the street on a cold winter evening. From my studio window, I caught a glimpse of a room, a shadow and a moment of movement before the light disappeared again. It prompted a curiosity about the little lives unfolding around us: the rooms we glimpse through windows, the people we pass, and the private worlds that exist alongside our own.

Windows become thresholds between the external world and the lives contained within. The act of looking is central to the works, as viewer, observer or voyeur we catch only fragments of something private that is not ours to know.

Interiors and spaces

The spaces we inhabit become more than buildings. Through living in them, they gather the residue of routines, memories, conversations and traces of those who occupy them. Interiors become both physical and psychological landscapes: spaces shaped by our daily lives. The paintings consider the many ways we occupy space around us, moving between the external world and the inner worlds we construct within it.

There is an attention to the infra-ordinary: the commonplace, the overlooked and the seemingly insignificant moments that make up a life. Familiar spaces and objects are isolated and made strange through painting - a chair, table, a glass, a meal, a doorway.

Fragments and moments

The gaze shifts towards the smaller fragments from the room to the details within it. Figures appear fleetingly or disappear altogether, leaving behind the suggestion of someone who has just stepped out of the frame. Objects tell stories of their owners, carrying the quiet trace of the everyday. In this sense, the paintings return to still life, but also to still lives: fragments of everyday existence held in time. Rather than complete narratives, they offer partial glimpses into the ordinary rhythms of living - moments arranged, remembered and imagined. What remains is a collection of small, intimate views into our little lives.

The paintings linger in this space between looking and imagining, finding moments at the periphery of daily life.

All works are available for sale, please ask about pricing if interested ellashepardart@gmail.com

*Exclusively for this exhibition the smaller works are being offered at £60 and you’re able to take them home with you.

@ellashepardartist