Artist Randall Steeves

Randall Steeves – Artist Statement

My studio practice is driven by the conviction that painting’s value lies in its capacity to register an individual’s physical relationship to the essential features of reality. I’m less concerned with psychology or social behavior and more with the perception of space and the body’s inescapable submission to time. I want my paintings, at a fundamental level, to reflect the condition of being alive.

I work with encaustic. The paint consists of beeswax that is heated in a pot, mixed with pigments and brushed onto canvas where it hardens immediately. The process, which involves the methodical application of layer over layer of translucent wax, results in a complex surface that can be read as a chronology of the painting’s construction and as a record of the painter’s physical presence and actions. The surface of an encaustic painting can suggest both the passage of time and a virtual, compressed spatiality that is nearly impossible to achieve with other painting mediums.

My paintings are tactile things with a material presence that, through the exploitation of the basic properties of paint, attempt to preserve action in order to emulate or manifest the intricacy of something real. In this regard, the work should echo both a human being and reality and, if successful, should serve to some degree to reveal an awareness of the awesome fact that anything exists at all.

Resume

Education

2008 Show Me Everything, Nanaimo Art Gallery, Nanaimo, BC
2008 Everything Matters, Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2007 Proper Research, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, YK
2006 Proper Research, Kwantlen Art Gallery, Kwantlen University College, Surrey, BC
2006 River Variations, Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2005 River Variations, Comox Valley Art Gallery, Courtenay, BC
2004 The Medium of Proof, Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2003 Evidence, Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver, BC here

Group:

2009 Conrad Wilde Gallery, Fourth Annual Encaustic Invitational, Tucson, AZ
2009 Elissa Cristall Gallery, Look 5, Vancouver, BC
2008 Cain Shulte Contemporary Art, Translucent: Contemporary Works in Wax, San Francisco, CA
2008 Elissa Cristall Gallery, Soleil, Vancouver, BC
2008 Conrad Wilde Gallery, Third Annual Encaustic Invitational, Tucson, AZ
2007 Elissa Cristall Gallery, Look 1, Vancouver, BC
2003 Residue, Artropolis, Vancouver, BC
2001 Erosion, Artropolis, Vancouver, BC
2000 Arts 2000, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC

Awards

2008 British Columbia Arts Council Project Assistance Grant - level 2 award, Victoria, BC
2003 British Columbia Arts Council Project Assistance Grant - level 1 award, Victoria, BC
1989 New Brunswick Cultural Development Grant, Fredericton, NB
1988 New Brunswick Cultural Development Grant Fredericton, NB
1988 Mount Allison University Dean's List, Sackville, NB
1984 New Brunswick Cultural Development Grant, Fredericton, NB

Workshops & Lectures

2008 University of the Fraser Valley, Visiting Artist Presentation, Langley, BC
2008 Vancouver Island University, Artist Talk, Nanaimo, BC
2007 Yukon Arts Centre, Artist Talk, Encaustic Master Class, and Workshop, Whitehorse, Yukon
2006 University of the Fraser Valley, Lecture -Proper Research, Abbotsford, BC
2006 University of the Fraser Valley, Encaustic Workshop, Abbotsford, BC
2006 Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Lecture -Proper Research, and Encaustic Workshop, Surrey, BC
2006 Elissa Cristall Gallery, Lecture -Why Painting Matters, Vancouver, BC
2005 Comox Valley Visual Arts Conference, North Island College, Lecture -Specificity, and Panel Discussion with Ian Carr Harris, Susan Bozic and Connie Watts, Comox, BC
2005 Comox Valley Art Gallery, Artist Talk and Encaustic Workshop, Courtenay, BC

Teaching

1990 University of New Brunswick, Humanities Department, Modern Art History: Modernism, Postmodernism, and an Introduction to Contemporary Art Practices, Saint John, NB
1989 University of Victoria, Printmaking - Lithography, Victoria, BC
1989 University of Victoria, Teaching Assistant - Painting and Printmaking, Victoria, BC
1988 University of Victoria, Studio Technician - Printmaking, Victoria, BC

Publications

2009 Arc Poetry: Canada’s National Poetry Magazine, Winter 2009 issue. Featured visual artist, pages 53-60, and front and back covers , Ottawa, Canada
2008 Conrad Wilde Gallery, Third Annual Encaustic Invitational catalogue, pages 44-45 , Tucson, AZ
2008 The Nanaimo Star, Encaustic Paintings at the Nanaimo Art Gallery, Wednesday, May 14, page B5, Nanaimo, BC
2007 What’s Up Yukon, The Trace of Human Presence by Tara McCarthy, December 14, page 21, Whitehorse, Yukon
2005 The Comox Valley Echo, An entertaining talk by artist Randy Steeves, Friday, October 7, page B1, Courtenay, BC
2005 Comox Valley Record, Things are a changin', Wednesday, August 24, page A19, Courtenay, BC
2004 Where Magazine, September issue. Art, on and off the wall by Adriana Barton, pages 18-19, Vancouver, BC
2003 Where Magazine, September issue. Editor’s Choice feature,1977 T-Bird, page 17, Vancouver, BC
2001 Artropolis, Celebrating Contemporary BC Visual Art catalogue, pages 42 and 59, Vancouver, BC
2001 CBC Radio3. Ten paintings from Science Against Modern Crime featured on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's 120seconds.com, Toronto, Canada



	. Randall Steeves – Artist Statement My studio practice is driven by the conviction that painting’s value lies in its capacity to register an individual’s physical relationship to the essential features of reality. I’m less concerned with psychology or social behavior and more with the perception of space and the body’s inescapable submission to time. I want my paintings, at a fundamental level, to reflect the condition of being alive. I work with encaustic. The paint consists of beeswax that is heated in a pot, mixed with pigments and brushed onto canvas where it hardens immediately. The process, which involves the methodical application of layer over layer of translucent wax, results in a complex surface that can be read as a chronology of the painting’s construction and as a record of the painter’s physical presence and actions. The surface of an encaustic painting can suggest both the passage of time and a virtual, compressed spatiality that is nearly impossible to achieve with other painting mediums. My paintings are tactile things with a material presence that, through the exploitation of the basic properties of paint, attempt to preserve action in order to emulate or manifest the intricacy of something real. In this regard, the work should echo both a human being and reality and, if successful, should serve to some degree to reveal an awareness of the awesome fact that anything exists at all. Resume Education 1990 MFA, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC 1988 BFA, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB Exhibitions Solo: 2008 Show Me Everything, Nanaimo Art Gallery, Nanaimo, BC 2008 Everything Matters, Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver, BC 2007 Proper Research, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, YK 2006 Proper Research, Kwantlen Art Gallery, Kwantlen University College, Surrey, BC 2006 River Variations, Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver, BC 2005 River Variations, Comox Valley Art Gallery, Courtenay, BC 2004 The Medium of Proof, Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver, BC 2003 Evidence, Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver, BC here Group: 2009 Conrad Wilde Gallery, Fourth Annual Encaustic Invitational, Tucson, AZ 2009 Elissa Cristall Gallery, Look 5, Vancouver, BC 2008 Cain Shulte Contemporary Art, Translucent: Contemporary Works in Wax, San Francisco, CA 2008 Elissa Cristall Gallery, Soleil, Vancouver, BC 2008 Conrad Wilde Gallery, Third Annual Encaustic Invitational, Tucson, AZ 2007 Elissa Cristall Gallery, Look 1, Vancouver, BC 2003 Residue, Artropolis, Vancouver, BC 2001 Erosion, Artropolis, Vancouver, BC 2000 Arts 2000, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC Awards 2008 British Columbia Arts Council Project Assistance Grant - level 2 award, Victoria, BC 2003 British Columbia Arts Council Project Assistance Grant - level 1 award, Victoria, BC 1989 New Brunswick Cultural Development Grant, Fredericton, NB 1988 New Brunswick Cultural Development Grant Fredericton, NB 1988 Mount Allison University Dean's List, Sackville, NB 1984 New Brunswick Cultural Development Grant, Fredericton, NB Workshops & Lectures 2008 University of the Fraser Valley, Visiting Artist Presentation, Langley, BC 2008 Vancouver Island University, Artist Talk, Nanaimo, BC 2007 Yukon Arts Centre, Artist Talk, Encaustic Master Class, and Workshop, Whitehorse, Yukon 2006 University of the Fraser Valley, Lecture -Proper Research, Abbotsford, BC 2006 University of the Fraser Valley, Encaustic Workshop, Abbotsford, BC 2006 Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Lecture -Proper Research, and Encaustic Workshop, Surrey, BC 2006 Elissa Cristall Gallery, Lecture -Why Painting Matters, Vancouver, BC 2005 Comox Valley Visual Arts Conference, North Island College, Lecture -Specificity, and Panel Discussion with Ian Carr Harris, Susan Bozic and Connie Watts, Comox, BC 2005 Comox Valley Art Gallery, Artist Talk and Encaustic Workshop, Courtenay, BC Teaching 1990 University of New Brunswick, Humanities Department, Modern Art History: Modernism, Postmodernism, and an Introduction to Contemporary Art Practices, Saint John, NB 1989 University of Victoria, Printmaking - Lithography, Victoria, BC 1989 University of Victoria, Teaching Assistant - Painting and Printmaking, Victoria, BC 1988 University of Victoria, Studio Technician - Printmaking, Victoria, BC Publications 2009 Arc Poetry: Canada’s National Poetry Magazine, Winter 2009 issue. Featured visual artist, pages 53-60, and front and back covers , Ottawa, Canada 2008 Conrad Wilde Gallery, Third Annual Encaustic Invitational catalogue, pages 44-45 , Tucson, AZ 2008 The Nanaimo Star, Encaustic Paintings at the Nanaimo Art Gallery, Wednesday, May 14, page B5, Nanaimo, BC 2007 What’s Up Yukon, The Trace of Human Presence by Tara McCarthy, December 14, page 21, Whitehorse, Yukon 2005 The Comox Valley Echo, An entertaining talk by artist Randy Steeves, Friday, October 7, page B1, Courtenay, BC 2005 Comox Valley Record, Things are a changin', Wednesday, August 24, page A19, Courtenay, BC 2004 Where Magazine, September issue. Art, on and off the wall by Adriana Barton, pages 18-19, Vancouver, BC 2003 Where Magazine, September issue. Editor’s Choice feature,1977 T-Bird, page 17, Vancouver, BC 2001 Artropolis, Celebrating Contemporary BC Visual Art catalogue, pages 42 and 59, Vancouver, BC 2001 CBC Radio3. Ten paintings from Science Against Modern Crime featured on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's 120seconds.com, Toronto, Canada





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