Stephen Gleadow

Lives and works in Beijing, China

Artist statement

My work references a backdrop of scientific, historical, spiritual, and naturalistic concepts and employs extensive experimentation with materials and appropriations of found objects / artifacts. While maintaining a more universal connection to the language of abstraction, there are narrative and figurative references materializing in and out of each series. My latest work utilizes materials and objects found in the detritus of my studio and in the ruins of urbanization. The work synthesizes my material surroundings and experiences as an artist working and living in the landscape of China. An example of this would be work from the “signal” drawing series which incorporates found specimens of nylon "social messaging" banners that are ubiquitous in the landscape of the city. The mandarin texts found within the banners are dissected, abstracted, re-directed and suspended in a translucent layer of epoxy resin. They function as a lexicon referencing modernist modes of visual forms, floating confetti-like spaces, and coded gestures while still touching upon their original purpose and form. Another series using a lexicon of abstracted marks and objects is the dust series. This series explores the idea of objects and forms broken down into metadata. This includes small and large-scale paintings drawings and sculptures. The paintings reference forms from our natural world, marks and lines are dissected from children’s coloring book illustrations and assembled into a collage of...

Artwork