— observations from the Blue Mountains Design Bureau —

Platonic Purity – Artist Profle – Stephen Short

Over the years, Stephen Short has utilised the beauty, space and affordability of the Blue Mountains to create his stunning abstract sculptures. With no formal art education, Stephen acknowledges he was late to find his direction as a sculptor, though he had always been driven to ‘construct’. It wasn’t until he moved to Leura in 1995 that he had the opportunity to truly commence making ‘sculpture’. Whilst now based on the Gold Coast where he grew up, a recent opportunity to house sit for a Katoomba friend, proved to be too good an offer to pass up. Yes, he is one of those rare souls who happily forgoes sun-kissed beaches for our misty mountains!

Stephen’s first choice of materials was found objects and industrial waste. He then spent four years exploring the geometric, sculptural possibilities of discarded timber offcuts (primarily from plantation shutters) with mesmerising results. More recently, his materials of choice are white PVC pipes and clear perspex. This deliberate restriction of palette enables Stephen to truly engage with the sculptural possibilities of the materials with stunningly beautiful outcomes. His works reveal an artistic mind that is observant, busy, meticulous and obsessive to detail.

The shift from timber to PVC has produced work that is less geometric – more abstract, fluid and organic. Utilising this futuristic palette, so reminiscent of Apple Mac’s ‘i’ generation of technology, Stephen explores themes of repetition, light and shade, and synthetic vs organic. A keen bush walker and gardener, his love of nature, its patterns and its forms is clearly evident in his work.

Whilst Stephen’s latest works possess a delicate and timeless sculptural beauty in themselves, it is situated outdoors within the natural landscape that they truly resonate. As a counterpoint to the natural world, the sculptures bring to mind those ideal, pure abstract forms that Plato hypothesised the natural world mimics.

Selected as a participating artist in the upcoming inaugural ‘Sculpture at Scenic World’ this February in Katoomba, I personally cannot wait to see Stephen’s ethereal work displayed in the stunning rainforest setting of Scenic World’s ‘Jurassic Valley’. The opportunity to suspend a new piece within the rainforest for this exhibition excites him greatly, as it is from below that Stephen prefers his work to be viewed. From this viewpoint his sculpture’s ability to engage both as a positive form and in the negative as a frame for the fragments of leaves and sky above is emphasised.

Stephen admits to dreaming of one day constructing large scale perforated velodrome roofs or the like, and is inspired by the abstract fluidity of the works of architects Santiago Calatrava and Zaha Hadid. With a large scale work already commissioned in Queensland by Urban Art Projects due for completion later this year, these dreams may become a reality sooner rather than later for this talented emerging artist.

Stephen Short’s work can be viewed at Sculpture at Scenic World this February 16 – March 11, 2012 daily from 9am-5pm. He will also be giving an artist talk as part of the event on Saturday 25th February at 11am. For more information visit www.scenicworld.com.au/sculpture

 WORDS AND IMAGES BY LIBBY SULLIVAN

‘SeaPod’ by Stephen Short at Sculpture at Scenic World  2012

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4 comments on “Platonic Purity – Artist Profle – Stephen Short

  1. Todd Fuller on said:

    I am looking to get in touch with this artist, is there any chance that you could send me his e-mail, I would like to invite him to participate in another sculpture prize.
    Todd Fuller
    artist/curator

  2. Hi Todd, Unfortunately we cannot give out emails, but I have forwarded Stephen your details so he can get in touch with you. Thankyou for your interest in his work!

  3. Bill Koster on said:

    I would like to contact Stephen about buying his sculpture.

    • Hi Bill, thanks for reading, and we are delighted for Stephen that you are interested in his work! Here is the link to his contact page where you can deal with him directly. Warm Regards, The Cloudscape.
      http://shapeshift.tech/contact/

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