Description of work.

Whilst studying for a Masters in Womens Studies, Barbara E Shepard also engaged in a period of psychotherapy. These influences led to a large series of self-portraits that play with the concept of the nude in fine art, and the 2 woman exhibition The I of the Beholder (1992).The theme of this oil painting on canvas is influenced by her long term interest and practice of eastern esoteric disciplines in Yoga and Qigong and imaginatively explores pictorial possibilities within these ways of understanding of bodys energetic system.Many are from photographs that the she took of herself using a shutter release mechanism. This one was taken by a friend, Jan Hanson and is of the artist practicing a Chinese qigong form.The background in this painting, foretells of her burgeoning interest in Egyptian Dance and culture. It consciously drew on mythological characters to form a bridge into the realm of the unconscious mind. The Jackal headed god weighs the deceaseds heart against the white feather of truth whilst the figure is energising the third eye. This piece is sold