APRIL 11, 2023 - MAY 6, 2023
“My paintings tangle with the tradition of landscape painting, imagined contexts, concerns about climate change, and the deep connections humans have with nature. I explore the uncertainty of our altered relationship with the natural world and in dream-like depictions, examine the imaginative interplay between light and dark, night and day, and our desire to discover new ways of sensing, learning and being. The images are other-worldly but grounded in behaviours, gestures and relationships that enable connection.
Through layers of paint, oil and wax, the images take force through the physical act of painting. An essential element of my practice is the exploration of formal elements that celebrate a deep engagement with the physical deployment of paint. I draw upon images that nurture my practice, culled from the internet, music, personal photos, films, and documentaries. In an approach that resembles collage, I source and juxtapose images of people and animals in natural environments sometimes seeking to understand, sometimes satisfied with just being there.” Stephen Pleban 2023
