About
In her first solo exhibition in Germany âACTIFE PLASSITY', Kate Steciw explores the potential of the networked image as raw material.
Stock images [1] are used as a starting point. Five of these images are layered into a single Photoshop file from which all the works in the exhibition are then derived. The layers of this base file are edited and rearranged to create multiple compositions which are then framed as unique works.
Once framed, items purchased online, such as decals, wheels, car embellishments, self- adhesive hooks and chains are also employed to further intervene in the framed works, creating additional dialogue between similarly ubiquitous aesthetics.
This process is deconstructive and abstracting. The materials Steciw employs are representational, yet in her compositions lose their meaning; through radical clashes of content new connections emerge.
1. Stock photography is the supply of photographs, which are often licensed for specific uses. It is used to fulfill the needs of creative assignments instead of hiring a photographer, often for a lower cost. Today, stock images can be presented in searchable online databases. [Wikipedia]
Kate Steciw, USA, 1979 lives in Brooklyn. She received her BA in Sociology from
Smith College, MA, and her MFA in Photography from SAIC, Chicago. Solo exhibitions include; Annarumma Gallery, Naples (2014); Elaine Lévy Project, Brussles (2013); Boundless Hyper Toomer Labzda Gallery, New York; Live, Laugh, Love, The Composing Rooms, London; Popular Options (Yellow Diamonds in the Light), klausegallery.net (all 2012); Love My Way, Primary Photographic Gallery, New York (2011). Group exhibitions include; What is a Photograph? International Center of Photography, New York; The New Beauty of
Our Modern Life Higher Pictures, New York (both 2014); Open for Business II (with Rachel de Joode), Casa Maauad, Mexico City; and Open for Business (with Rachel de Joode) Stadium, New York (both 2013).
