Featured Artist Steven Fisher

Artist Steven Fisher presents a delightfully colorful collection of uplifting paintings inspired by nature. Visit his website to see more of his work.

 

 

This current series was born to counteract the effects of a previous series in production. That series was humorously dark irony that reflected my feelings of the state of world at the time. What was happening, though, was I was becoming the monster to defeat the monster. This was not a good thing and was leading down a dark hole.

 

 

What I really needed was some light instead, to help navigate and pull me out of that hole as well as potential for balancing out the internal vs external forces that surround us all. The result is this new body of work has turned into the longest “series” that I have ever created. (I usually detect a trend in my work that extends over a number of pieces. Then I abruptly change direction and search for something new and different.)

 

 

My original intention was to create pieces that would allow me to get lost in them when creating. And I needed a bit of haven to lose myself in upon viewing after finishing. If they were successful, then they could be a place to focus on to meditate or to re-center myself to be in the moment.

 

 

If I were to re-center myself, maybe then I could recharge the batteries to better take on the day. If, somehow, other people were to get a similar sense or effect upon viewing, that would be humbling and beyond my wildest intentions.

 

 

The paintings never start with any preconceived idea. They don’t really even start with any direction at all. It all happens as the conversation with each piece progresses. The conversations start right at the beginning, even simply staring at blank canvases (yes, I work on multiple pieces at the same time, anywhere from two to ten.)

 

 

The conversation continues through the first layers of colors, to the second and third layers of flicking paint and all the way to getting into the complexities and details of the particular piece. Eventually, each piece starts to develop a sense of the direction it wants to go. I simply go with it. I’ve learned after decades of experience that I have to get my head out of the way, and just paint what it’s telling me to paint.

 

 

As I evolve and move forward, I’m looking to remove more and more intention from my work. Yes, it’s very Buddhist/Shambhalic in concept and execution. I mean, the irony in intending to take intention out of the work is intention itself, right? But, not exactly. The point would be to take anything out of my work that I am trying to say and take out anything I am trying to make the viewer see or think. To simply rely on the act of creating.

 

 

I look forward to this challenge and journey ahead.

 

Steven Fisher invites you to follow him on Instagram.

 

 

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