Sean Steadman is first and foremost a painter. He is invested in the medium’s specificities and its ability to draw out new visual forms. There are two major influences at play in Steadman’s practice: a deep understanding and respect for the history of art and an expanded view of nature, inclusive of both the biological world, and broader abstract concepts such as mathematics, culture and technology, that underpin existence.

Steadman makes works that slow the viewer down and take time to unravel. His works are diametrically opposed to the culture of “reading” images and photographs so prevalent in the current image economy. His paintings take time to fully experience; they marshal space, even if their structures are utterly mercurial. They are dialectics of schisms, sediments, breakages, the pulverulent and protuberant of colour and composition. The forms that emerge warp and morph into one another, as if enmeshed in rhythmic (dis)symphony, ad infinitum. The resultant paintings act as portals into multiple dimensions and systems. They function as blackholes, teetering on the limit of cosmic space, born out of chaos and order.

Drawing is central to the planning of Steadman’s compositions and he has developed a process whereby the foundations are translated onto the canvas in a method similar to that of the “cartoons” that were used by Italian Renaissance masters. This initial phase is deliberately fast and decisive, so as not to allow critical reflection. This essential step invests in, and enables the painting’s subsequent complexity. After the drawing phase, Steadman works on the entirety of the canvas’ surface, applying, erasing, layering until a suitable starting point is achieved.

For Art Basel Hong Kong, the first time Steadman is showing in Asia, the artist has made a new body of paintings that are anchored around a heart shaped motif. This motif’s origin is the Silphium seed pod, that Steadman has scrutinised and abstracted. The motif is a building block of sorts, part of Steadman’s vocabulary of forms that provided the starting point for this body of work. 

In Lattice, 2024, a pulsing crimson heart in the foreground is pierced to reveal the ultramarine blue of the heavens behind. Grey arrows point towards this portal providing a framework for the viewer to read the mechanics of the composition. The top right corner of the heart expands and extends into a gradient of pink, red and brown hues; the background gives way to a flat crosshatch rendered in yellow and brown that is punctuated by the primary colours. The painting is a cacophony of colour and texture and the furious dynamism of Steadman’s mark making results in forms that seem constantly in motion and freely transform across the picture plane.

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Sean Steadman 是⼀名畫家，他對繪畫的特殊性及其呈現新視覺形式的能⼒深 感興趣，⽽對藝術史的深刻理解和尊重，以及對⾃然（包括⽣物世界）及數學、⽂化和技術等 更廣泛抽象概念的廣闊⾒解，促使他從事繪畫創作。

Steadman 的作品可令觀賞者放慢節奏，細細品味，與現時圖像經濟中盛⾏的「閱讀」圖像和 圖⽚⽂化截然不同，他的繪畫需要我們花時間充分領悟；儘管在結構上變幻無常，但在空間上 錯落有致，融合了分裂、沉澱、斷裂，凸顯⾊彩和構圖，形式靈活多變，彷彿讓⼈沉浸在有節 奏的交響樂之中，永無停息。因此，他的繪畫可將⼈帶⼊多個維度和系統，如同⿊洞⼀般，在 宇宙空間極限中搖擺不定，誕⽣於混沌和秩序之中。

繪圖是 Steadman 作畫的核⼼，他已開發出⼀套程序，採⽤與意⼤利⽂藝復興時期⼤師所使⽤ 的「 卡通」類似的⽅法，在畫布上構建基底。在創作的初始階段，必須殺伐果斷，絕不進⾏ 批判性反思。經過這⼀重要步驟，畫作的複雜程度隨之提升。繪圖完成後，Steadman會在整 個畫布表⾯進⾏塗料、擦除、分層，直到找到合適的切⼊點。

Steadman ⾸次在亞洲舉辦的巴塞爾藝術展⾹港展會參展，他圍繞⼼形圖案創作了⼀系列新的 畫作。畫作圖案來源於Steadman仔細研究並提取的松⾹屬種莢，由多個插畫檔組成，是 Steadman表現形式的⼀部分，也是這幅作品的切⼊點。

在Lattice（2024年）的前景中，⼀顆跳動的深紅⾊⼼臟被穿透，露出背後深藍⾊的天空。灰 ⾊箭頭指向該⾨⼾，為觀者提供解讀構圖機制的框架。⼼形右上⾓向外擴展，並逐漸延伸成粉 紅⾊、紅⾊和棕⾊⾊調；背景突出以⿈⾊和棕⾊渲染並⽤原⾊點綴的平⾯交叉畫。Steadman 採⽤靈活多變的⼿法層層勾畫，將⾊彩與紋理完美融合，呈現出不斷運動，⾃由轉換的畫作。