Working predominantly in oils, Garth Steeper creates richly associative paintings in which nature, history, myth and the subconscious coalesce. Populated by creatures and apparitions, his scenes exist outside of any linear timeline and remain open to narrative interpretations. A delicate interplay between the illusory space of the painting and the materiality of the paint itself is also at work. As we pull back, the loose daubs of colour we see at close range describe figures, thrown into relief by a strong directional light. In Steeper’s studies for the Full Circle exhibition, creatures, figures and fires emerge from dark, dreamlike spaces. 

Garth Steeper graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts in 2003 and has been exhibiting regularly throughout Aotearoa since. He has been selected as a finalist in several national art awards, including The Wallace Awards in 2009 and 2015, the Waikato painting award in 2008, and the Adam Portraiture Award in 2014. Steeper’s work is held in a range of private collections across Aotearoa. He currently lives and works in Titirangi.