* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Steven Labadessa earned a BA with honors in Fine Arts (Drawing) from Brooklyn College and a MFA in Painting from the University of Pennsylvania. He lives and works in Ann Arbor, MI.
Steven explains his work by saying, “I exact a preference for hyperbole and “psychological” texture in my work. It comes, as most art forms, from reflections on my life (episodes, experiences, etc.). And, it is imagery that I explore specific to painting within the confines of self-portraiture that typically runs counter to modern western notions of beauty. I re-render the flesh of friends and relations (lasting & temporary) serving as a surrogate for me by “compositing” my imagery from a variety of observed, imaginary and digital sources. In so doing, I seek to continue to resolve/meld both “low” and “high” influences with a conscious restraint airing on subtlety to yield tension.”
