Dorothy Shaw

Artist Statement

Dorothy Shaw’s paintings are rooted in nature, memory, and the experience of place. Trees and birds often become the fundamental forms within her landscapes, functioning both as elements of the environment and as active participants within it.

Rather than pursuing realism, Shaw moves between representation and abstraction, using remembered landscapes as a starting point for creating a sense of place. Her paintings explore the possibilities of the two-dimensional surface, incorporating multiple perspectives, spatial relationships, and overlapping visual frames.

Through this process, Shaw creates landscapes that are at once recognizable and imagined. Her work reflects an ongoing interest in how memory transforms the natural world and how seemingly separate forms can interact within a unified pictorial space. www.dorothyshaw.com

Biography

Dorothy Shaw is a New York-based painter whose work is inspired by nature, memory, and landscape. Her paintings incorporate forms drawn from trees, birds, and natural environments, transforming them into expressive compositions that move between representation and abstraction.

Shaw developed an interest in art and art history from childhood. As a teenager, she studied privately with painter Corrine Gardner, who trained at the Massachusetts College of Art. Shaw later studied art at New York University, graduating in 1971. She also attended Pratt Institute and participated in a summer program at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts.

Her paintings have been exhibited in juried and invitational group exhibitions throughout New York City, including at the Pen and Brush Society, Viridian Artists, Noho Gallery, and Agora Gallery. She has presented solo exhibitions at the Around the Clock Cafe in New York City and the Port Washington Library Gallery.

In 1989, Shaw received First Prize at the 6th Juried Exhibition of the Fine Arts Museum of Long Island in Hempstead, New York, which resulted in a solo exhibition at the museum that same year.