More Is Best (Too Much) Art Statement
All my life I have been told that, at best I’m “a little over the top” and at worst “too much to handle”. As a plus sized woman I take up too much space; as an outspoken feminist too opinionated; as a disabled individual I need too much help; as nuerodivergent I am too weird; and I am also too loud, too strange, and always ‘a little extra’. More is Best seeks to celebrate rather than denounce all these aspects of my being and demonstrates how beautiful that can be.
The collection is full of abstracted images that represent my internal landscape. These paintings hold rolling emotions and explosions of thought, peppered with the hues and shades of my personal history. Portraits of women with bright backgrounds and facial expressions that range from bemusement to abject skeptism help to anchor the show. A series of expressive florals with whimsical backdrops are full of colour and pattern. Fanciful, hand sculpted pottery emmit a sense of joy and wonder while also being fully functional. At the centre, a larger than life self portrait; drawn with my non-dominant hand and rendered on raw muslin with watery paints and inks. The effect is meant to mirror an unapologetic attitude of ‘take me as I am’.
This show, like myself, can be a lot to take in. However, if you spend the time, you’ll find a multitude of layers, depth, and meaning. These paintings, as a whole, are so much more than the sum of their parts, and, I think you’ll find, that’s best.
Kathleen Shellrude
BIOGRAPHY
A mixed media artist and experimental ceramicist, Kathleen Shellrude lives and creates on Treaty 1 Territory (Winnipeg). Her artistic career began after a lengthy hospitalization in 2015 which prompted her to use art as a means of processing issues related to a personal history marked by disability, mental illness, homelessness, and addiction.
Since completing a residency at Artbeat Studio (2017), Shellrude has presented work in 6 solo exhibitions, including Forest Royalty which is currently travelling through rural Manitoba, and has participated in many group shows. She has curated 3 exhibitions, including Life Support (2018) which honours her nephew who passed away from an overdose.
Her paintings feature dreamlike landscapes, magical creatures, and abstraction. She works in multimedia pottery by combining acrylics, resin, gold leaf, botanicals, bones, stones, prayers, and spellwork that connect her, and the viewer, to the divine.
She is one of the founders of Higgins Studios, where she works in one of the accessible artist-run studio spaces made available to 20+ artists. She is chair of the board at The Edge Urban Gallery and Art Centre, and is a member of various arts organizations in Winnipeg. Her artwork can be found online and in person at www.kshellrude.com, Tara Davis Boutique, Radiance Gifts, and UpBeat Artworks.