In Whereabouts Part One, Tortora and Shepherd exposed often overlooked or invisible geographical marks and/or architectural traits found in their surroundings. In Part Two, Shepherd and Thornton create tangible textures and forms that are drawn from their own inner landscapes and filtered through the context of their studios.

Thornton draws from the seen and unseen, capturing the mood and tension between the two, striving to operate in the space between known and unknown with a visual hum rather than declaration. In Shepherd's work, we see evidence of a liquid splash. Shepherd achieved this image by applying a substance to a shiny panel that she then photographed as it reflected light from the studio window. She then printed that image back onto a panel, reimagining the translucent marks in black enamel and making suggestive yet unfamiliar. Both of these works hover at the edge of visibility and invisibility, and ultimately give way to an internal world that reflects back in on itself. 

Terri Thornton's works on paper, her graphite drawings, helped precipitate the organization of Whereabouts Part One and Part Two. When I was first captivated by Thornton's recent drawings, I was unaware that the artist had recently lost an eye. The knowledge of her loss stimulated an intense dialogue between us about many of the questions she addresses through her practice. How do we distinguish between visibility and invisibility, what we witness overtly and externally, and what goes undetected or is revealed internally? What is experienced as visible or invisible may find manifestation as artwork, but even as such the question remains, what is it?

These inquiries with Thornton led to further conversations with her, Shepherd, and Tortora around separate issues—the dialogue between the artist and artist's studio; between the artist's studio and environments beyond the studio; and more generally, the parallel themes of location and connection. While each of these three artists approaches their work and processes differently, they share an ongoing fascination with the relationship between the artist and their whereabouts.  

—Takako Tanabe