artist Statement:

Fragmented:

I am broken. I create art to feel whole again.

In “The Hour of the Wolf” Johan Borg said, “The mirror has been shattered, but what do the splinters reflect?” It is those splinters I examine, mend, and reconstruct to create art.

To me art isn’t pretty. It’s who I am, what happened to me, and how I was affected.

Currently, I work in mixed media. I start by attaching hundreds of old, obsolete computer punch cards to each other. Once assembled, I add more layers of vintage paper - graph, music, and newsprint. Next, I add a layer of acrylic paint to give the paper structure. Now, I can begin to draw, paint, scrape, and erase.

When the work no longer requires any more mark making, I take it apart, only to reconstruct it in a more meaningful way.

Bio:

Stephen Hawkey has been creating art in many forms his entire life. Stephen studied at Miami University, receiving a BFA degree with concentrations in ceramics, graphic design, and film. There he was introduced to the work of Robert Arneson, Phillip Guston and Stan Brakhage.

In 1996, Stephen took a job as an art director at a boutique ad agency, shooting ad campaigns for Coca-Cola, GMC, and Marriott Hotels, to name a few.

Burnt out of advertising and always interested in architecture, Stephen enrolled at Pratt Institute, earning a Masters of Science. During school, he interned at SOM and worked on many projects including the Freedom Tower. After graduation, he was hired at Michael Graves as an Interior Architect.

It was there where Stephen began to admire Michael’s paintings and came to terms with his own desire to create art.

Stephen is currently a full time artist working in mixed media out of his Port Chester, NY studio. He resides in Bronxville, NY with his wife and 3 children.