Stephen's
travels and studies around the world have heavily influenced his work.
As well as attending the Ontario College of Art, Stephen studied the
Art of a variety of cultures while working and traveling in Europe, Southeast
Asia, India, China, Nepal, Japan, Central and South America. These cultures
play an integral part in his work, from his use of colour to the ideas
and concepts behind the work.
Working
in both abstract and impressionistic styles, he strives to convey aspects
of the beauty and spirituality he encountered. Impressionistically he
works with objects and figures that have qualities of simplicity and
timelessness. His abstract work portrays balances and harmonies of colour
and form without carrying the associations of subject matter, leaving
the viewer free to bring their own perceptions to the paintings.
ARTIST COMMENTARY
Whatever the painter, poet, musician, or dancer is depicting, the final
result implies worlds within worlds since a closer look will always reveal
more detail. The same is true with nature which is infinitely more complex
and detailed than it first appears. For many years, scientists have been
attempting to define matter/life/reality by studying its elements in increasingly
minute detail. An atom for instance is made up largely of space in which
even smaller particles exist. A closer look at those particles reveals that
they are simply waves or vibrations. Since everything in the universe is
made of atoms, what appears to be solid is actually just a big musical vibration!
Thus, the only difference between objects -- and life for that matter --
is their vibrational frequency. There are no boundaries between objects
and nothing exists separately. Things do not contain energy so much as they
are energy: the life force, or God, is all that there is. This brings many
scientists, philosophers and artists to the inevitable conclusion of the
oneness or holism of all things, a harmony in which everything is known
to affect everything else. A slight change in any element of this universe
can have far reaching effects. I have been trying to portray these concepts
of boundary/edge/line verses merging and the underlying feelings of music
or vibration in my work. With the use of layering and repeating patterns
I have attempted to make each small piece very much like the total picture
in principle; it has the same kind of logic as the whole. I am not trying
to represent nature so much as making the painting work as nature does,
to be a reflection of the dynamism of nature itself.
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