Steve Mitchell’s art embraces both traditional and nontraditional forms. Ultimately it is an art sparked by optimism, however jaded or naive. A quality that makes his work appear thoughtful, hopeful, prayerful even.
His latest work has a nomadic bearing, capable of being rolled away at a moments notice, the edges often frayed or left uneven; leaving an impression of use and abuse, or an artifact of some past failed campaign. Sometimes you find a discernible image. Sometimes not. In general, the finished image recall diagrams, maps, shadows or rune fragments; buckled or pinned to raw wood planks, then hung unstretched tapestry-like on the wall.
Construction begins with a base color. Then an improvised “drawing” is overlaid with a loaded brush. Cairns are a recurring motif; a metaphor, a trailside guidepost, a faceted jewel-like irony—symbol of safe passage. From there the canvas is deconstructed—literally cut to pieces. The pieces then reassembled (or reconstructed) with the aid of a sewing machine. The results hint at synthetic cubism or crazy quilts. In the end, the process is really more akin to alchemy—sublimation. A shattered image given new life. As though the artist were attempting to stitch hope back together one piece at a time.
Education
Stadsacdemie voor Toegepaste Kunsten, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Ringling School of Art, Sarasota, FL
Awards
Painting Fellowship, The Artist Foundation, Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities
Albert Moore Award, Boston Center for the Arts
2025 Annual Roddy Award, Concord Center for the Visual Arts
Collections
Bank of America, Boston MA
Fuller Art Museum, Brockton, MA
Druml Collection, Vienna, Austria
Galerija Bozidar Jakal, Kostanjevica Slovenia
Collection of Andej Smreker, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Collection of Gjergji Loci, Tirana, Albania
Collection of Rebecca Karo, Durham NH
Collection of Gooz Draz, Wellfleet MA
Collection of Eric Rosenberg, Arlington MA
Collection of Paula DeCristofaro, San Francisco Ca
Collection of Thomas Batchelder, Belmont MA
Collection of Elizabeth and Matthew Terry, Belmont MA
Collection of William Connor, Cambridge MA
Collection of Cindy and James Lynch, Sarasota FL