“Orpheus” Limited Edition Archival Print by Louis Shields, 2018

A haunting and poetic composition from artist Louis Shields, “Orpheus” is a limited edition archival print from the artist’s 2018 Dancer Series. The original mixed-media painting on canvas has been masterfully reproduced on textured watercolor paper, preserving the layered depth and evocative surface of the original.

Against a field of deep black, a luminous, faceless figure stands framed within a hand-drawn outline, the spectral presence of a second form, perhaps memory, perhaps muse, trailing behind in a sweeping, blood-red shroud. The print’s theatrical minimalism conjures myth, dance, and loss in equal measure, with nods to both figurative abstraction and modernist stage design.

Dancer Series, 2018
Archival pigment print on textured watercolor paper
18″ W X 12″ H
Colors: Black, red, off-white