The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
Chad Shepherd
Columbus Ohio 43224 United StatesHome Ohio United States Home Phone: 6142123571 Website: http://www.chadshepherd.com
Bio
Chad Shepherd, a visual artist born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1972, holds a Bachelor of Arts in the History and Theory of Architecture from Ohio State University. He has been a vital member of the Columbus arts scene, contributing as part of the BLD Studios artist community and as a founding member of The Shelf art space in the Skylab Building. His accomplishments include the Fran Luckoff Award for his work in the Indoor/Outdoor Juried Exhibit at Fort Hayes. Shepherd has participated in numerous group exhibitions and hosted a variety of art and music events.
Shepherd’s artistic practice, initially intuitive, has evolved into a rigorous, research-based methodology centered on exploring the fundamental meaning-making potential of color, line, and weight. A commitment to formal inquiry led to a profound self-examination, catalyzed by the recurring presence of the “grid” motif in his past work. This awareness led him to George Kelly’s Personal Construct Psychology, a theory developed at The Ohio State University. Kelly’s view of individuals as “incipient scientists” who constantly construct and revise personal theories resonated with Shepherd’s approach.
His current work formally engages with Personal Construct Psychology, utilizing the Repertory Grid technique as an interpretive framework for his visual research. Shepherd treats his studio practice as a personal scientific endeavor, systematically examining how specific uses of color, line, and weight operate as fundamental constructs in his art. By consciously examining and formalizing the structural elements in his work, he is developing a methodology to understand how the weight of a line, the emotional valence of a color, or the rhythm of a compositional structure serves to anticipate or interpret past experience.
Artist Statement
My artistic journey, initially driven by intuition, has evolved into a rigorous, research-based practice centered on finding meaning in the formal elements of color, line, and weight. For years, I resisted assigning explicit conceptual frameworks to my creative output; the resulting images, whether created or appropriated, were allowed to exist as pure, intuitive expressions. A commitment to formal inquiry, however, instigated a profound self-examination, compelling me to analyze the structural underpinnings of my visual language.
This analytical shift was catalyzed by the recurring presence of the “grid” in my past work. The sudden awareness of this motif prompted a focused, theoretical search that led serendipitously to George Kelly’s Personal Construct Psychology (PCP). The connection deepened upon learning that Kelly developed PCP at The Ohio State University in 1955.
Kelly’s theory—which frames individuals as “incipient scientists” who constantly construct, test, and revise personal theories—resonated deeply with my developing methodology. Specifically, the Repertory Grid technique, used to formalize “constructs” for interpreting events, now serves as the interpretive framework for my visual research. I treat my studio practice as a personal scientific endeavor, systematically examining how specific uses of color, line, and weight operate as fundamental constructs in my work.
My current work seeks to formally engage with PCP by mapping my psychological landscape onto the visual one. Psychological difficulties, in Kelly’s view, arise from constructions that fail to provide a meaningful framework. By consciously examining and formalizing the “grids” and structures in my art, I am developing a rigorous methodology to understand how the weight of a line, the emotional valence of a color, or the rhythm of a compositional structure serves to anticipate or interpret past experience.
Applying to the Graduate School of Fine Arts at The Ohio State University is an intentional choice to utilize the intellectual and historical context of Kelly’s work. My goal is to employ the rigorous academic environment here to integrate PCP’s theoretical framework into a disciplined and experimental studio practice. I believe the interdisciplinary spirit of the OSU Fine Arts program provides the ideal environment to evolve my artistic inquiry from one driven by unconscious process to one informed by conscious, research-based construction focused on the fundamental meaning-making potential of color, line, and weight.