Emily Shepard: In Flux @ Mercury 20 Gallery

Emily Shepard’s large-scale abstract paintings pull viewers into an immersive, otherworldly space — one of shifting depths, interacting layers, and arched forms that float like portals above restless water. Working on unstretched canvas, she builds richly textured surfaces through gestural mark-making, watery drips, and stitched canvas shapes. Indecipherable loops of script speak to rhythm, breath, and cycles.

Shepard’s work is mirrored by her practice as a year round swimmer in the San Francisco Bay: moving her body through cold water, attuned to tides and currents, releasing into the hypnotic push and pull. Her painting practice and bay swimming share the need for focused attention, awareness of sensation, and internal states. Each artwork, like each swim, is a search for wholeness, presence, and embodied learning.