By experimenting with images and their physicality, artist Kate Steciw creates multifaceted works she calls “constructions” that can be referred to as photography sculpture. The shaping and layering process behind Steciw’s compositions remind us that perspective is something that is meant to be played with. By taking images out of their initial context she is able to create intricate dialogues between forms and textures that are materialized through a dye-sublimation to aluminum process to make physical objects of the photographs.
Trained as a photographer, Steciw’s approach to art is both liberal and personal in the sense that she collects images from her daily life to later dissect and assemble into painterly compositions that can be hung by from a chain attached to several mountain-climbing hinges or stacked up neatly in the confines of a frame. She tells The Creators Project, “All these images do is exist in this ephemeral digital space where they get saved and stored and they never have any materiality, why don’t we make a thing out of it? Let’s see how they exist out in the real world.”>
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Construction 143 from “Shapes Of Things” at Brand New Gallery, Milan (photo courtesy of Brand New Gallery)
By creating outlines of original and default shapes on her computer, Steciw draws upon the photograph to create a unique form that is assembled into a multidimensional composition. She says, “The less contextualized the images become the more they can act as form or color within the composition.”
The quality of the image is not the point when Steciw takes a photograph. She says, “I love knowing that I’m going to use images regardless of their technical aesthetic. I can be out in the world doing my thing and collecting images.”
Construction 1029 from “Things Of Shapes” at Neumeister Bar-Am, Berlin (photo courtesy of Neumeister Bar-Am)
The way that Steciw applies the photographs to her compositions is almost like using stock material from her own personal journeys. Each one of her works is directly linked to a personal experience. “My work is about my life, I’m obsessed with images and taking and saving and creating a connection with how I deal with images in my day to day world,” she says. From natural elements such as water and fire to mundane objects such as a balloon animal, Steciw captures all sorts of images that provide a one-of-a-kind texture for her intricate assemblages.
Steciw’s lively works have garnered a lot of attention in past months due to their morphable qualities that keep pushing the boundaries of photography, providing new insights into experimentation. She just exhibited two new series of work Shapes of Thingsat the Brand New Gallery in Milan and Things of Shapes at Neumeister Bar-Am in Berlin. The artist says, “Right now feels like a very liberating time to be working with images, I’m happy for that because I’ve always felt a little estranged from the photography world.”
Installation view of “Shapes Of Things” at Brand New Gallery, Milan ((photo courtesy of Brand New Gallery)
Construction 1021 from “Things Of Shapes” at Neumeister Bar-Am, Berlin (photo courtesy of Neumeister Bar-Am)
Construction 1026 from “Things Of Shapes” at Neumeister Bar-Am, Berlin (photo courtesy of Neumeister Bar-Am)
To learn more about the artist click here.
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