STEVEN NEDERVEEN Nature Transforms : Experiments in Layered Landscapes

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Steven Nederveen, "Forest in Pink," nd

mixed media on panel with resin, 42" X 60"

Artist Reception: Saturday, May 6, 2-4PM

ARTIST IN ATTENDANCE

Steven Nederveen's invitation to create a work for the Canadian Consulate in Iceland commemorating Canada's 150th Anniversary has led him to examine his own practice in dialogue with Canadian art for his latest exhibition, Nature Transforms: Experiments in Layered Landscapes. Finding an affinity between his work and the mystical landscapes popularized by Emily Carr, Lawren Harris, and Frederick Varley, Nederveen imbues the theosophic appreciation for the Canadian wildness exemplified by these iconic artists with a new exploration in colour and layering media.

"For this show, in addition to my well-known trees and mountains, I’ve incorporated some groundbreaking new techniques that are used to convey ice and water. I’m interested in the way that water responds to invisible forces around it like, currents, wind, hot and cold temperatures. It’s an element that equally shapes, and is shaped by its environment. I think this has a direct parallel to human struggle and transformation"

Continuing the exchange with Iceland, Nature Transforms includes imagery of Iceland’s breath-taking natural beauty. New abstracted works referencing small cross sections of a glacier pay homage to the cool climate of this northern nation. Nederveen extends the two dimensional painting surface outward by using multiple transparent planes that are raised, painted and cut into. These paintings capture ice in all its fascinating fractures, sediment deposits, and crystal blue transparencies.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Steven Nederveen’s work focuses on the passage of time, a theme stemming from his own practice of meditation. These moments of peaceful clarity lead the artist to draw connections between our natural environment and aspects of spirituality through his artistic process of combining painting and photography. By distressing and aging the work, Nederveen creates a sense of past and present, of struggle and transformation; he develops a magical realism that inspires us to see the world with new eyes.

Steven Nederveen studied fine art at Medicine Hat College and went on to receive a Bachelor of Design from the University of Alberta in 1995. His studio is currently based out of Toronto.