Internationally acclaimed American Artist Rick Stevens inaugural solo exhibition in London
My work grows out of the awareness that everything is connected. As in the quote by John Muir, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” This is the essential idea in Systems Theory, and it is also present in Eastern philosophy such as Taoism. I’m interested in evoking that sense of interconnectedness, where the boundaries are fluid between inner and outer worlds, and where living patterns move through both.
The Chinese word 'li ' refers to a pattern that unfolds through all things—not a rigid design but a living geometry, always shifting, always whole.
My work ranges from representational to abstract. This stylistic range gives me the opportunity to approach painting from a variety of angles. Having an abstract painter’s eye when painting landscapes helps maintain a freedom from stifling rules, the ones you learn and eventually learn to break. Keeping a landscape painter’s eye when painting abstract imagery informs how I manipulate space and evoke nature’s moods.
References to natural phenomena come intuitively after decades of depicting the landscape. Shapes, colours, textures, and even the way paint is applied are driven by the desire to capture certain effects I’ve witnessed over the years. Something as specific as fading light casting a subtle hue across a scene can evoke the sense of mystery that I’m drawn to.
There is a Japanese word, komorebi, which describes the phenomenon of sunlight filtering through leaves and the shifting patterns it creates as it falls on trees and surfaces. It is usually associated with tranquility, beauty, and harmony for the one experiencing it. I value such moments and consider them an investment in my general well-being as well as for my work. And a Chinese word, li, that refers to a pattern that unfolds through all things, not a rigid design but a living geometry, always shifting always whole. These two words point to crucial aspects of what I aim to express in my work
There is a kind of musicality in nature that I try to tune into through my landscapes. Painting becomes a way of listening, and perhaps suggests that a kind of sentience moves throughout the natural world.
I like to vary the surfaces of my paintings, placing thin, drippy washes next to thick impastos. I blend a range of mediums and applications that help me express effects in nature and contribute to the sensual, emotional quality of the work.
My studio is almost always filled with paintings in process. To some it might seem chaotic, but I experience it as a very organic flow. Working in oils in layered stages naturally creates this rhythm. The drying time alone is reason enough to set one painting aside while another calls for attention. Meanwhile, the time away from a work becomes valuable when I return to it with fresh eyes.
Detachment is often required to see things clearly, since the artistic vision is always partly compromised by the ability to execute it. Painting becomes a series of small lessons in how to respond both to what is present on the canvas and to what emerges from the imagination.
I also gather ideas in many ways. I compile images of paintings for inspiration, along with my own photographs and studies. These come from books, digital archives, and museum visits. I also collect impressions while hiking in the woods and noticing small moments in everyday life.
It becomes a merging of studying art and the landscape that I frequently explore around northern New Mexico. My tendency is not toward the iconic Southwestern vistas most often associated with the region, but rather toward more intimate forest scenes found in the mountains.
In that sense, the landscape becomes both subject and teacher. Each painting is another attempt to follow those living patterns—moments where light, space, and memory briefly come into alignment.
