Laurie Steen
Born June 13th 1970
Resides in Devon, England
Laurie studied Fine Art at the University of Calgary, then went 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 (1 of 5 Royal Acadamies in the UK). 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. Her recent solo show in London’s Cube Gallery in 2019 entitled ‘the space of nothing and everything’ featured Steen’s signature drawings, composed of conte & coloured pencil on mylar, and drawings on gesso panel.
‘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.
This idea seems to play out quite literally in the vignettes of roads and nearby fields. I feel this when ever I am rendering the architecture of nature; there is always light to be found in the dark and there is a fondness and a knowing when revisiting familiar places. It all feels very personal. The hedge shadows are permanently changing yet imprinted into the landscape and are unforgettable.
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.
I am currently working on drawings where I am continually readdressing my connection to my landscape and the emotion of newness it instils 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. ‘
Solo Exhibitions
2019 ‘the space of nothing and everything’, Cube Gallery, London
2012 TREES, Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World, (CCANW) Haldon, Exeter
2010 EINZIGARTIG, Halde Galerie, Widen, Switzerland
2009 ‘small Drawings and Paintings’, Artfirm Gallery, Calgary Alberta, Canada
2007 MEMORY OF GREEN, Artfirm Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2002 “abstrAKT”. Halde Galerie, Solo drawing & painting exhibition with sculptor Evelyne Brader-Frank. Widen, Switzerland
2001 ‘The Poetry of Us… finding my own figuration’. Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art., Calgary, Canada.
1997 ‘a continuation of works,’. Wallace Galleries Ltd., Calgary Alberta, Canada.
‘for the love of Scarlet’ McIntyre Bills Corp. Studio. Calgary, Alberta
1995 ‘The Living Sketch, a moment within nature”, 808 Studio – Alberta Hotel Bldg. Calgary, AB.
Group Exhibitions
2020/21
International Womens Day Group Exhibition 2021, Wallace Gallery, Calgary Canada
Wells Art Contemporary 2020, UK, Virtual Exhibition
RWA 168, Autumn/ Spring Exhibition, RWA, Bristol, UK
2019
RA 251 Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Art, London
‘Emerging Landscapes: A New Normality’, RWA, Bristol, UK
RWA Autumn Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
London Art Fair, Cube Gallery, London
2018
RWA Autumn Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
RA 250th Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Art, London,
‘All Women’s Group Exhibition’, Wallace Gallery, Calgary, Canada
2017
The Jerwood Drawing Prize, Jerwood Space, London (upcoming Sept. 17)
Works on Paper, Cube Gallery, London (upcoming Sept. 17)
Drawings from the RWA Collection, The RWA, Bristol, England
Summer Group Exhibition, Wallace Gallery, Canada
Tree Life, Coombe Gallery, Dartmouth, UK
DRAWN, The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, England
2016
Small is Beautiful, CUBE Gallery, Marylebone, London, UK
RWA at the ATKINSON, Acadamicians elected over the last 5 years, Atkinson Gallery/ Atkinson Arts Projects, Millfield, Street, Somerset.
164 AUTUMN EXHIBITION, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol.
2015
163 AUTUMN EXHIBITION, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
WALKING INTO MEMORY, Penzance, Cornwall. (https://walkingintomemory.wordpress.com/press-release/)
DRAWN, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK.
SMALL THINGS MATTER, Badcocks Gallery, Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Penzance, Cornwall
2014
162 AUTUMN EXHIBITION, Royal West of England Academy (Academician Candidate). Bristol, UK THE AFFORDABLE ART FAIR, w/ Badcocks Gallery, Battersea, London, England.
2013
ITS ALL WHITE, Coombe Farm Gallery, Dartmouth, England
161 AUTUMN EXHIBITION, The RWA, Bristol, England
POSTCARDS FOR SHELTERBOX, Badcocks Gallery, Tremenheere Gardens, Cornwall, Devon
THE AFFORDABLE ART FAIR, w/ Badcocks Gallery, Battersea, London, England.
DRAWN, The RWA (Royal West of England Academy), Bristol, England
2012
LYNN PAINTER STAINERS EXHIBITION, Mall Galleries, London, England
‘THE AFFORDABLE ART FAIR’, Autumn Collection, w/ Badcocks Gallery, London
MY FAVOURITE TREE EXHIBITION, CCANW, Haldon Forest, Nr. Exeter, England
2011
ING Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
‘THE AFFORDABLE ART FAIR’, Autumn Collection, London
159 AUTUMN EXHIBITION, The RWA, Bristol, England
NEW BEGINNINGS, Badcocks Gallery, Penzance, Cornwall, England
THE ART GALLERY OF CALGARY, Masterpiece Contemporary Show. Calgary, Canada
2010
Badcocks, Christmas Group Show. Newlyn, Cornwall.
Bow Valley College ‘Celebration of Art’ (Showing works from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Collection.) Calgary, Canada
158 AUTUMN EXHIBITION, The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol (winner of the Prize for Drawing)
THE AFFORDABLE ART FAIR, Spring Collection 2010, London,
2009
157 AUTUMN EXHIBITION’, The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, England
TACO (Torre Abbey Contemporary Open’) Torre Abbey, Torquay, Devon.
THE AFFORDABLE ART FAIR, Spring Collection 2009, w/ Bowlish Cont. Gallery, London, England
‘A walk at Fursdon’ , Fursdon, Devon, England
FasziNATUR, Halde galerie, Widen, Switzerland.
VISAGE Portrait Exhibition, Artfirm Gallery, Calgary, Canada
THE EDGE GALLERY, show with Geoffrey Hunter
2008
156 AUTUMN EXHIBITION, The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, England.
STUDIO ALBERTA, (2 part exhibition) Opening at Wolstenholme Projects, Liverpool, England; travelling to Artfirm Gallery, Canada. SUMMERTIDE, New work by gallery artists, ArtFirm Gallery, Calgary, AB.
2007
A SEASONABLE SALON, Group Show, ArtFirm Gallery, Calgary, AB.
SUMMERTIDE, Group Show, ArtFirm Gallery, Calgary, AB.
Landscape x9, Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary, AB.
2006
“BODY OF 3” Interdisciplinary Performance piece with Dance Music and Visual Arts,
The Grand Theater. Calgary, Alberta. Produced by Groundwork’s Integrated Arts Collective. Calgary, AB.
2005
“FrauenAnsichten”, Halde Galerie. Three person Exhibition. Widen, Switzerland
FORM and FIGURE, Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art. Calgary, Canada
THE BODY – THEMATIC TANGENTS, (Satellite show to the the Triangle Gallery) Calgary, Canada
2004
ANONYMOUS The Uptown, Calgary, Canada
December group show. University of Calgary Mezzanine Gallery, Alberta
2002 – 2006
December Gallery Show, Halde Gallery, Widen, Switzerland
2000, 01,03, 04, 06
‘Deck the Halls December show’ Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary, Alberta
1999
“Introductions 99” Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary, Alberta
“ArtWalk 99” Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary, Alberta
1996
Designers’ Showcase 96, Calgary, Alberta
“Art Unsprung” Studio Civilization. Calgary, Alberta
1995
“Art Soiree” Studio Civilization.
1993
Faculty of Architecture Teachers’ Exhibition, Faculty of Architecture Gallery,
Winnipeg. Group Show (w/ Winston Leathers, Bruce Head, Calvin Yarush, Ben Washelyshin, Gord Peterson, Stacey Peterson)
Awards/ Residencies
2010 Bristol Drawing School, Drawing price for excellence in Drawing at the Royal West of England Academy 158th Autumn Exhibition
2007 Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Production Grant for the Studio Alberta Group Show, Liverpool, England
2005 Canada Council Visual Arts Grant & an Alberta Foundation for the Arts grant. Received with other artists for the interdisciplinary project “Body of 3”.
Residency at Banff Center for the Arts, for the projects creation.
1993 Thesis Prize winner for design – Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg