Artist Information
Laurie Steen
1970 - 2023
Price range: $850-$9000
My work has always felt full of paradoxes sitting happily beside each other. From lightness and darkness, emptiness and fullness, to finding the extraordinary within the ordinary. I am continually intrigued by the pull of negative space and more specifically how light shapes us and gets through the shadows. I enjoy focusing on what isn’t there, the unsolved empty space and the power of the negative. There is an anticipation of what could be; an openness, and great newness that is just around the corner.
Currently, I am working on drawings where I am continually readdressing my connection to my landscape and the emotion of newness it instills in me. Images rendered are usually places touched with memory, a worn humanness, still and silent. A wholly unexpected moment, showing the extraordinary in the ordinary, that if isolated and remembered, could help me define the essence of my connection to and ‘way of being’ in nature. I would like to think that these works share my human connection to nature , and in turn make visible a ‘humanness’ I see and feel in the landscape by rendering it. But mostly to show that it has been remembered.
Process:
The lines I leave on a drawing have much to do with making a mark at my first point of contact with a subject or a place; my first ‘pulling in’ or commitment to a drawing. The construction lines centre me and in essence reveal small truths about my thought processes.
Laurie Steen was elected a Royal West of England Academician in 2015, and has her work in many collections including the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. She has been exhibiting her work for over 25 years and continues to exhibit in Canada, and throughout the UK. Laurie also has a Degree in Design from the University of Manitoba’s, Faculty of Architecture. She currently lives with her family in Devon, England.
Laurie studied Fine Art at the University of Calgary, then going on to complete her B.I.D. at the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Architecture, for which she was awarded the thesis prize. She has been exhibiting her work for over 25 years internationally and continues to exhibit throughout the U.K. Canada and Switzerland, where she is represented. She often collaborates with artists on interdisciplinary, performance and design based projects which continue to influence her practice.
Laurie’s work is represented in numerous private and corporate collections and she regularly exhibits her work internationally. In 2015 she was elected an academician of the RWA. Some recent group exhibitions include the 2017/18 Jerwood Drawing Prize, the 2018 and 2019 RA Summer exhibition, as well as every biannual DRAWN exhibition with the RWA.
Born in Canada 1970, Resides in Devon, England
Elected an Academician with the RWA in 2015 (Royal West of England)
Solo Exhibitions
2019 ‘The Space of Nothing and Everything’, Cube Gallery, London, UK
2012 ‘Trees’, Center for Contemporary Art and the Natural World, Exeter
2010 ‘Einzigartig’, Halde Galerie, Widen, Switzerland
2009 ‘small drawings and paintings’, Artfirm Gallery, Calgary
2007 ‘Memory of Green’, Artfirm Gallery, Calgary, Canada
2002 ‘ abstrakt’, Halde Galerie, Widen, Switzerland
2001 ‘the poetry of us’, Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary, Canada.
1997 ‘A Continuation of Works’, Wallace Galleries Ltd., Calgary, Canada
1997 ‘for the love of Scarlet’, McIntyre Bills Studio/ Gallery, Calgary, Canada
1995 ’Paintings’, Jackson Kalef Gallery, Calgary, Canada
1995 ‘The living sketch’, 808 Studio, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Group Exhibitions (selected)
2019 RA Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Art, London
2019 ‘Emerging Landscapes: A New Normality’, RWA, Bristol, UK
2019 London Art Fair, Cube Gallery, London
2018 RWA Autumn Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
2018 RA Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Art, London,
2018 ‘All Women’s Group Exhibition’, Wallace Gallery, Calgary, Canada
2017 - 18 Jerwood Drawing Prize, Opening at the Jerwood Space, London
(touring Exhibition around 6 UK venues).
2017 ‘Works on Paper’, Cube Gallery, London,
2017 ‘Drawings from the RWA Collection’, The RWA, Bristol, England
2017 ‘Summer Group Exhibition’, Wallace Gallery, Canada
2017 ‘Tree Life’, Coombe Gallery, Dartmouth, UK
2017 ‘DRAWN’, The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, England
2016 ‘Small is Beautiful,’ Cube Gallery, London
2016 ‘RWA at the Atkinson’ The Atkinson Gallery, Millfield, Somerset, UK
2012 - 2018 RWA Autumn Exhibition’, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK
2016 ‘Summer Group Show’, Wallace Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2015 ‘DRAWN’, The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, England
2015 AAF Hampstead, REN Fine Art, Gallery, London
2014 ‘Academician Candidate Show’, 162 Autumn Exhibition, RWA, Bristol, UK
2013 -14 AAF Battersea, Badcocks Gallery, London.
2013 ‘Its All White’, Coombe Farm Gallery, Dartmouth, England
2013 ‘Postcards for Shelterbox’, Badcocks Gallery, Tremenheere Gardens, Cornwall, UK.
2013 ‘DRAWN,’ The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK.
2012 Lynne Painter Stainers Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, England.
2012 ‘My Favourite Tree’, Centre for Contemporary Art & the Natural World, Exeter, UK.
2011 ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London.
2011 159 Autumn Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol.
2011 ‘New Beginning’s, Badcocks Gallery, Penzance, England
2011 ‘Masterpiece Contemporary Show’, Art Gallery of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
2010 -14 Badcocks, Christmas Group Show, Newlyn, Cornwall.
2010 Bow Valley College ‘Celebration of Art’; Works from the AFA Collection, Calgary, Canada
2008 -10 158 Autumn Exhibition, RWA, Bristol, England, (Prize for excellence in Drawing)
2009 TACO (Torre Abbey Contemporary Open) Torre Abbey, Torquay, Devon.
2009 ‘VISAGE: a Portrait Exhibition’, Artfirm Gallery, Calgary, Canada
2008 ‘STUDIO ALBERTA’ (touring exhibition), Wolstenholme Projects Liverpool, UK & Artfirm Gallery, Calgary, Canada
2007-10 ‘Summertide’ & ‘A Seasonable Salon’ Group Show, Artfirm Gallery, Calgary, Canada.
2007 LANDSCAPE x 9, Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary, Alberta
2007 EINLADUNG ZUR AUSSTELLUNG, Halde Gallery, Widen, Switzerland
2006 BODY OF 3: Interdisciplinary Performance piece; Dance, Music & Visual Arts. Produced by Groundwork’s Integrated Arts Collective, The Grand Theatre, Calgary, Canada.
2005 ‘FRAUEN ANSICHTEN’ (a Womans view), Halde Galerie, Widen, Switzerland
2005 ‘Form and Figure’, Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary, Canada.
2005 ‘The Body’, (Satellite show to the Triangle) Calgary, Canada.
2004 University of Calgary, Mezzanine Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2002-06 ‘December Gallery Group Exhibition’, Halde Gallery, Widen, Switzerland
2000-07 ‘Deck the Walls’, Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary, Canada
1999 ‘INTRODUCTIONS 99’, Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary, Canada
Education
1989-93 University of Manitoba, BID, Faculty of Architecture, Winnipeg, Canada
(Awarded the Thesis Prize)
1988-89 University of Calgary, Faculty of Fine Art and General Studies
Bibliography (selected)
2016 Selector for the Royal West of England 164 Autumn Exhibition.
2014 Artists & Illustrators, March 2014 Issue, Feature Contributor, Pages. 74-76.
2011 Fiona Robinson Writings on Art July/ August issue
http://fionarobinsonwritings.wordpress.com/
2011 Evolver, Fiona Robinson, Feature artist for Jan/ Feb, England’s West Country Arts Guide.
2011 The Cornishman, August 25, 2011, ‘The art of Fry and Laurie’,
http://www.cornishman.co.uk/art-Fry-Laurie/story-13200057-detail/story.html
2006 Jocelyn Grosse’, Interview for ‘Body of 3’ production. “A collective cross-pollination of the arts”. Calgary Fastforward. May 11, 2006.
2002 Heather Berezowski, Feature of ‘the Poetry of Us’ NewZones. Gallery Guide Spring
1997 Kate Zimmerman, “Art and Architecture”. Calgary Look West Magazine, Spring.
Awards/ Residencies
2010 Prize for excellence in Drawing at the RWA 158th Autumn Exhibition
2007 AFA (Alberta Foundation for the Arts) Production Grant for ‘Studio Alberta’ Exhibited
in Canada & Liverpool, Uk (during the city of culture)
2005 Canada Council Visual Arts Grant, & Alberta Foundation for the Arts Grant for ‘Body of 3’
2005 Banff Centre for Performing Arts, Canada. 2 separate residencies for the ‘Body of 3’
1993 Thesis Prize winner for Interior design - Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba.
Collections
The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK, The Drawing Gallery, Shropshire, UK. The Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Calgary AB Canada, Karo Design Resources, Wallace Gallery, McIntyre Bills Interior Design Corp., Angles Calgary, Mary Jensen Gruber Shawna Inc., Newcrest Capital Investment Banking, Stuart Engineering and Surveying Ltd, Habitar Design Inc. Canada,
West Canadian Color and Graphics Canada, Caltech Surveys, The Fursdon Estate, (a selection from Design and Residential collections in Canada, United States and Europe.)
Commissions
Include Landscapes, Etudes, Figure Drawings and Portraits for Private and Commercial Clients.
International Women’s Day Group Exhibition e-Catalog 2021
International Women’s Day Group Exhibition 2021: #ChooseToChallenge
International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women’s achievements or rally for women’s equality.