Janice Mason Steeves
I approach painting in a way that reflects my practice of meditation, where the mind becomes quiet and deeper connections are possible. I am concerned with connecting with nature, using light and colour in a way that offers space for reflection and contemplation.
My work is influenced by my travels to northern places, like Newfoundland, northern Sweden, Iceland and the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. Their stark landscapes, the clarity of the air and the quality of the light conspire to create a minimal, reductive quality in my paintings.
I apply oil paint in extremely thin, translucent layers that overlap each other reflecting the rhythms of nature, the seasons, the cycles, the wind. I build up the surface gradually, layer by layer, creating luminous colour fields that appear to move with the regularity of breath. They are experiential surfaces that offer quiet space, a form of visual meditation.