Ann Shelton's early work is best defined by her 'Redeye' series (1997) of portraits. These artworks focused on aspects of Auckland's vibrant art community—particularly many of the artist's friends who were linked to the Teststrip collective, with its openings, performances, and parties.
Read MoreShelton's interest in documenting exuberantly dressed partygoers is further recorded in the series 'My Friends are Electric' (1997—2016).
Shelton is unusually prolific and varied in her exhibition themes and presentation methods. Many projects have dealt with the particularities of place, including focusing on architectural interiors in series such as 'Room Room' (2008), 'Twenty-six Photographs of a House' (2005—2007), and 'Abigail's Party' (1999).
Other series feature landscape, as in 'Wake' (2008—2010), 'In a Forest' (2011—ongoing), 'A Ride in the Darkness / Wastelands' (2010), and 'Public Places' (2001—2003). In these works, various violent narratives or tragedies are embedded in the photographed locations. Sometimes Shelton repeats an image in a flipped over or inverted form, presenting it and the original in a pair to make a perceptual or stringently moral point by showing that the viewer has options of interpretation.
Shelton's projects are a carefully organised mixture of emotional intensity and rigorous historic research. They are idea-driven whilst also visually aware compositionally, being rich in symbolism and allusion—making stories from the past vividly relevant for the present and future.
Several more recent series present formal arrangements of herbs, flowers, and other plants, usually with medicinal properties long admired by women over the ages, and linked to different emigrant communities or certain colourful personalities. These include 'An Invitation to Dance' (2021), 'A Lover's Herbal' (2021), 'The Missionaries' (2018), and 'Janes Says' (2015—ongoing).
