Steuart Pittman
Instagram: @steuartpittman
Website: http://www.steuartpittman.com
Bio: Steuart Pittman (b. 1985, Chicago) lives in Richmond, CA. He earned his MFA from Mills College in 2009. He has presented exhibitions and performances at Traywick Contemporary, Berkeley, Regards, Chicago, IL, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL, Will Brown, San Francisco, and Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, among others. He is a co-founder and director of Pacific Saw Works, a nomadic curatorial project.
Statement: I make paintings of familiar forms with meticulous precision. They develop slowly and decisively, though they are directly informed by my drawings, quick improvisations that I make in sketchbooks. I think of my painting practice as a spiritual pursuit, and my current paintings reflect my most recent musings. I believe that we experience beauty through fleeting moments at unexpected times and places, and ultimately my paintings strive toward that intangible phenomenon. As the world has become increasingly tense and unpredictable, my work has taken on a more subdued tone, and I see my painting practice as a vehicle moving away from chaos and toward a place of formal and personal nirvana.
When I decide to turn a drawing into a painting, I refine the composition and then build a unique panel or canvas support, taking into account the specific materials that will constitute the ground of the finished object. The color relationships between the painted forms and their ground is a key point of focus for me, and I aim to establish compelling and unanticipated color scenarios in everything I make. I build exquisite frames for my paintings and their nuanced coloring and profiles have become a focal point of my practice.
