Steph Van Doren Art

I consider myself a social neo-abstractionist. I also consider myself an environmentalist. In the past I created work that commented on contemporary issues that plague nature and speculated possible solutions to the problem. In my new series Shade and Shadow, I don’t attempt to solve or mitigate environmental issues. My aim is to emphasize the forgotten beauty of nature and identify my place in it. I explore my own habitat and shoot photos of the landscape. Although I consider the photos a finished product, I love the feel of brush and paint on canvas. I select specific aspects from each image, deconstructing nature, to create a pseudo-realistic view. So, each painting is a reflection of that love, and nature is further reduced to the bare essentials of line, color, shape and light, independent of visual reference to the real.