Steve Mennie

Artist Statement:
From as far back as I can remember I have been fascinated by the ambiguous nature of "reality" and our attempts to "make sense" of seeming chaos. For some years now my own personal attempt at making sense has involved working as a painter and print maker in the creation of images. These images have been described as 'high' or 'photo' realist and great pains were taken in hiding the means utilized in their creation. By this I mean that the final image was my goal and I wished to present this image in as cool and detached a manner as possible. To this end the medium (usually acrylic polymer emulsion) and techniques used in my practice were thought of in somewhat the way I imagine a magician approaches the learning of a magic trick. The trick or illusion was the important thing and the techniques of realizing it were to become invisible. In some ways I was trying to become invisible myself. That is, I didn't want to 'infect' the image with any gestural evidence of the artist's presence; the final image was to be "objective" and "real".

In a time of relentless and near-hysterical "doing" I think of my artistic practice in terms of Heidegger's "being-in-the-world" and the resulting works as, to quote Mark Kingwell, "slabs of existence". These slabs are not pieces of equipment subordinate to the concept of "usefulness" but are instead openings or spaces in which we are called to remember what it means to be.

"Land Marks" - August 30th to September 10th
Over Steve Mennie's art career he has painted realism, impressionism and then abstraction. This new series of paintings are done in pastel, of Okanagan scenes and brings Steve back somewhat to his realism days.

Land Marks I Pastel on Paper 14 x 21 inches

Land Marks II Pastel on Paper 14 x 21 inches

Land Marks III Pastel on Paper 14 x 21 inches

Land Marks IV - Canteloupe Hill Pastel on Paper 14 x 21 inches

Land Marks V - Red Building by Chase Pastel on Paper 14 x 21 inches

Land Marks VI - Scheidam Flats Pastel on Paper 14 x 21 inches

Land Marks VII - Sunset East of Kamloops Pastel on Paper 14 x 21 inches

Land Marks VIII - Big Horse on Bridge River Pastel on Paper 14 x 21 inches

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Stretched Truth Acrylic on Panel 33 x 42 inches

Abstraction IV Acrylic on Panel 12 x 14 inches

Abstraction III Acrylic on Panel 12 x 14 inches

Abstraction II Acrylic on Panel 12 x 14 inches

Abstraction I Acrylic on Panel 12 x 14 inches

Foreground and Background Acrylic on Canvas 32 x 41 inches

Making Do Acrylic on Canvas 27 x 34 inches

Something Fishy Acrylic on Canvas 12 x 15 inches	Plastic Planes Acrylic on Canvas 12 x 15 inches

Untitled A Acrylic on Canvas 12 x 15 inches	Green Landscape Acrylic on Canvas 12 x 15 inches

Photographic Element Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 30 inches

Letter Home SOLD Acrylic on Panel 12 x 15 inches	Each Other SOLD Acrylic on Panel 12 x 15 inches

Same Simulation SOLD Acrylic on Panel 9 x 11 inches	Long Distance Action SOLD Acrylic on Panel 12 x 15 inches

Ode to Gees Bend Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 30 inches

Crazy Horse SOLD Oil on Panel 9 x 11 inches	Dubious Space SOLD Acrylic on Rag Paper 8 x 9 inches

Landscape Like SOLD Pastel on Rag Paper 18 x 24 inches	Lipstick and Rockets SOLD Oil on Canvas 38 x 48 inches

Pastels

Farm and Coal Cars Pastel on Rag Paper 8 x 10 inches

Hillside near Notch Hill Pastel on Rag Paper 8 x 10 inches

Recently I have begun to work with oils and my approach to the work has changed significantly. I now feel that rather than making images I am making paintings and instead of trying to hide or make invisible the medium and it's tactile and visual possibilities I find that it has become part of the 'content' of the work. I now have trouble determining just where paint ends and image begins and furthermore I'm enjoying it.

Serigraphs

A Dairy Queen Dawn Serigraph 12 x 21 inches	Black, Blue and White Lake Serigraph 12 x 18 inches

Rock Bottom Serigraph 16 x 16 inches	C.P.R. Bridge Serigraph 13 x 15 inches

Wharf Serigraph 8 x 20 inches	Hidden Intersection Serigraph 12 x 25 inches

View from Railroad Bridge Serigraph 8 x 18 inches