Steven Larson

Biography

Steven Larson paints cities much the way cities themselves are created. Layer by layer. Structure by structure. Realities evolve from simple brushstrokes on blank canvases to complete the whole: masterful compositions of real-life street scenes, inner-city neighborhoods, and distant skylines. In capturing the gritty, multi-textured characteristics of his urban subjects, Steven adopts surprisingly lighter color palettes infused with oranges, yellows, greens, and teals. Though his application of paint is free and energetic, his works develop slowly, emerging through rich glazes of dripping, transparent color. The cities in his paintings reflect, like the ghostly figures that inhabit them, transient states of evolution and change. There is constant transformation revealed, as forces from man and nature build up and tear down the layers that define or obscure them. His paintings illustrate the delicate balances between control and non-control, detail against vagueness, and opaqueness versus transparency, allowing the viewer to participate in moments of curious and fleeting beauty.

A Salt Lake City native, Steven studied painting at the University of Utah and was awarded a fellowship grant in 2005. He has exhibited consistently for the past ten years, garnered awards from plein-air competitions, and is represented by notable galleries on both East and West coasts. His paintings are housed in major collections, nationally and abroad.