At the heart of Amy Stephens' artwork is the symbiotic relationship between nature and human agency; of seduction and control; of minimalist precision. Her practice considers the relationship of both found and crafted objects whilst revealing the marks of the maker. There is a raw intimacy to her work that exists in the space between sculpture, assemblage and drawing. Stephens' investigations of line, colour, texture and form reflect a confident aesthetic inspired by architecture and design.
(b. 1981)
Amy Stephens.
MA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK (2008) | BA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Reading, UK (2005)
Amy Stephens has an elemental sensibility to form that is explored through materials and social space. With an interest in taxonomy and the appropriation of objects, the artist uses an eclectic mix of materials to combine the collaborative relationship between the natural world and the man-made. Through the grouping and re-grouping of objects, elegant sculptural compositions inhabit the space offering a sense of playfulness whilst questioning notions of performance, value and beauty. Pared-down to a formal minimalism, architectonic structures become coded within the work creating interplay with seduction and control whilst offering a confident aesthetic. These fragile structures reveal the notion of equilibrium, that tense and very fine line between that which we know and that which we fear, at the centre of her current work. Stephens lives and works in London.
The artist uses an array of materials that are strongly suggestive of urban living. Negation and structural isolation are recurrent throughout with objects and images finding form by layering registers of information. Stephens' fragile sculptural assemblages are described as 'tracings that form the basis of an architectural skeleton' connecting one space to another whilst highlighting the fundamentals of drawing. She creates geometric portals and in-between spaces encouraging exchange round and through. Bright lines, bronze artifacts and playful intervention encourage the viewer to consider both the structure and surface material that form the basis of Stephens work.
Amy Stephens’ selected solo exhibitions include ICA Studio, London, William Benington Gallery, London, UK, Oonagh Young Gallery, Dublin, Ireland, Minibar Artist Space, Stockholm, Sweden, Poppy Sebire Gallery, London, UK, and Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland. In 2013, Stephens was invited to take part in the Triangle Network Award and International Fellowship to Muscat, Oman in association with Gasworks Gallery, London, UK. Recent awards include Villa Lena Artists' Residency, Tuscany, Italy, AiR-Sandnes Artists' Residency, Sandnes, Norway, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland, Artists' Residency.