With delicate and concise strokes of color, a painter with classical training creates drama in his neo-Impressionist paintings using moody blues and bright yellows. By covering his canvases in buttery dollops of paint, Canadian artist Steve Baylis plays with texture and shadows to timelessly convey emotion through pigment.
The artist studied illustration as well as graphic design and fine art in school. His focus on painting and a fruitful mentorship culminated in a defined interest in the medium — particularly piqued by seeing work by John Singer Sargent.
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“Upon graduation, […] I moved through abstraction, collage, 3D, realism, and back to impressionism, loving the narrative qualities it possesses. I painted this way for almost a decade before having the confidence to become an abstract, non-representational artist.”
In his pursuit to find his own style and vision, the artist concentrated on the overall visual nature of his work. “I was tired of the over-saturation of representational imagery we see. Whether it’s lifestyle photos trying to pursue us to buy their product or selfies of insecure adolescence, the meaning of the image is being lost or becoming irrelevant. The abstract image gives us a break from the noise and a place to wonder,” he says.
The artist shares some sources of inspiration: “As much as I engage deeply with contemporary and recent art, considering both technique and concept, I processes this work through a personal meditative practice. Intuition, memory, experience, and feeling are [each] given space to emerge.”
To explore more of Steve Baylis’s artwork visit his Instagram page and his website.
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