Acrpost: A Project of the Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres

Event Description

Victoria artist Steven Armstrong presents an exhibition of new work, opening Saturday, September 19. After studying at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design Steven lived in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan; finally settling on Vancouver Island in 1996, he has been painting professionally since 1997. The grandeur of British Columbia’s backyard provides him with infinite inspiration: rocky coastlines, sunlit meadows, breezy bays, and majestic mountains come alive on his canvases steeped in colour, light, and space. In his attempt to create paintings that, while built from recognizable places, will be suggestive of a broader human experience, we enter a dialogue on an emotional and enduring level – lone objects come to represent more than simply trees, rocks, earth, and sky, they suggest places that carry meaning for us as individuals. “How do you communicate the experience of exploring a costal rain forest, of hiking to an alpine lake, or watching the wild Pacific waves roll in? I grew up fascinated by the way we conceptualize and express our relationship with the natural environment and with one another – that sense of connection. I approach painting as a form of communicating an ever-changing relationship with place. It’s a dialogue, really; a conversation into which the viewer is invited.”