Contemporary artist Kurt Steger calls his style ‘Environmental Psycho-Realism’.
My evolution seems to take a spiralling path: as I move forward I see my works cycling over, picking up previous ideas and techniques that I reincorporate into the present series. What keeps my style consistent is my longing and the pain I feel in my heart for the state of the world.
Contemporary artist Kurt Steger
Featured image: Contemporary artist Kurt Steger . Urban Structures, Installation view, ArtHelix Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2015.
Contemporary artist Kurt Steger. Artist portrait courtesy Kurt Steger.
How do you describe yourself in the context of challenging people’s perspectives via your work and art?
My hope is that through my work I’ll have an impact on the viewer’s perspective of our intimate connection with nature. I’m motivated by the need to heal my own relationship with the environment, and in turn I challenge the Western perspective that we are superior to nature. In a sense I trick the viewer by luring her in with beauty and fine craftsmanship, but beneath the surface there is tension. The disturbing reality is that we as a culture are deeply out of sync with our true nature and thus to our environment.
Meltdown, Arthelix, Brooklyn, New York. Contemporary artist Kurt Steger. Wood machine, string, paper, ice made from contaminated water, paper, rotating surface. Size variable. 2015.
How do you deal with the conceptual difficulty and uncertainty of creating new work?
I try not to attach a conceptual context to my work at the beginning of the process. As a younger artist I struggled endlessly to justify the work I was about to make. As I have matured as an artist I trust my gut feeling to move forward with my inspirations, understanding that there’s a profound primal motivation that exists beyond my rational thinking. By not shying away from this I have found that the work will speak to me with a relevant concept, both during and after completion. As an example, my “Shamanic Weapons” series totally surprised me, as I tend to be a pacifist, and was surprised that I was creating some very violent-looking weapons. Much later I realised these weapons were intended to battle the inner demons within our psyche, those destructive urges that lead us towards violence. The weapons became instruments with which to contend with these demons, to “dance” with them as it were, in order to give them expression without harming others.
Meltdown focuses on ritual, community, and the environment. Viewers are invited to participate in the creative impulse as they watch suspended ice drip onto a sheet of paper. Participants manually rotate the paper, and the melting ice creates a Zen-like circle of urban stains. Mixed into the ice are materials such as carbon, rust, soil, and locally harvested toxic waters. As we observe the process, we are brought into the present moment as a community with a common focus – an isolated drip. Contemporary artist Kurt Steger.
Tell us about the evolution of your practice over the years. What would you call your style?
Having worked for over thirty years, I have many bodies of work in my repertoire. My evolution seems to take a spiralling path: as I move forward I see my works cycling over, picking up previous ideas and techniques that I reincorporate into the present series. What keeps my style consistent is my longing and the pain I feel in my heart for the state of the world. I trust this pain and use it to motivate my conceptual style to create each work with integrity, honesty, and purpose, as if each sculpture were a prayer for the earth. I would call my style “Environmental Psycho-Realism”. I believe that the three-dimensionality, the inventiveness, and the use of basic nature-based materials make my work relatable to our everyday lives. The conceptual nature of the work is based around the loss of nature and of human purpose, but it offers healing from this disconnection. I like to think that my sculptures reconnect us with our purpose – namely, to live in harmony with ourselves and with nature.
Koan No. 8. Contemporary artist Kurt Steger. Cast concrete, graphite, stones. 7 1/2 x 10 x 3 1/2 in. 2017.
What inspires you? Let’s talk about your frameworks, references and process.
I am inspired by my mission to do what I can within this lifetime to help heal the human connection to the environment. I get a deep, fiery motivation in my gut by the injustice I witness in the world, particularly environmental injustice. I believe that we as humans of a Western philosophical bent have lost the connection to our heart and our feelings, and this is why we’re able treat the planet with such disrespect. It’s incredible that we don’t realise what a suicidal path we’re on! I feel extremely grateful for my existence, and at the end of my life I want to be able to look back and feel deep in my bones that I lived a life of healing. I’m motivated to express my gratitude through my work, and try to motivate others as well. I think we all want to better the world that we live upon.
Fierce Club. Contemporary artist Kurt Steger. Wood, paper, string, pigment, seeds, crystals, stone. 36 x 10 x 9 in. 2013.
What were your biggest learning and hiccups along the way in your artistic journey?
When I first moved to New York, I was sure that I would take the city by storm and present my “environmental, spiritually-based, nature-centred art” to a New York art world hungry for what I was offering. My arrogance did not take me far, and deeply humbled, I had to take an honest look at my work to decide if there was anything seriously profound that I was trying to say. At first I thought of changing my work to fit the urban look and concept, but I realised that there was plenty of that being done exceptionally well. I came to the conclusion that if I was a “real” artist, I’d have to dig deep within and trust who I was, and trust that if I worked hard enough to do my best work, I would find a place in the city. It worked out.
Burden Boat Project, 2007 – Ongoing.
The Burden Boat Project was first conceived on September 11, 2009 as part of a solo exhibition on the campus of Virginia Tech University. In response to the tragic shooting several years earlier, I wanted to create a participatory art piece that might assist in the healing process.
How does your audience interact and react to the work you put out into the world?
My work is appealing to a wide audience because it is finely crafted by hand. I find that people are innately drawn to artistry and elegant design, and I’ve never shied away from either. But a high level of skill is never enough to create fine art; there needs to be a conceptual aspect that engages the viewer. My work is rooted in spiritual psychology, ecology, and compassion for the state of the planet. The suffering of human disconnection is deeply felt in my work, as well as healing for those who are drawn to explore a deeper consciousness. And for those who aren’t, my work is simply pleasing to look at. I don’t have a problem with that; in fact, I like it when someone responds to my work solely based on its visual impact. It tells me that the work has succeeded in touching a wide audience. I’m not a fan of making art that only artists will understand!
Stupa 03. Contemporary artist Kurt Steger. Cast concrete on found concrete from Brooklyn, New York. Filled with sacred objects from Tibet. 7 x 5 x 6 in. 2016.
What were you working on when the lockdown was announced?
When the lockdown began, I was well into a new series of large-scale sculptures intended for installation on my property. Since my studio is at home, my day-to-day schedule has not been affected. I had two shows cancelled, which was disappointing, but the upside is that it gave me even more time to develop this new series. Now that I’m well into this new body of work, I see them as “heroic” sculptures, as they have an appearance of piercing into space, of defying gravity, and possessing the audacity to be optimistic in this deeply troubling time.
I’ve always worked long days so I can’t say that I work any harder now than I did before the quarantine. But the inability to socialise or go to museums and galleries has definitely added to the hours I have in my studio time. I’m grateful for my ability to process this momentous world event from the safe and inspired place of my studio.
Environmental Structure No. 6. Contemporary artist Kurt Steger. Wood, stone, pigment. 24 x 9 x 6 in. 2018.
What is there a crying need for in the art world today? What would elevate artists’ life during this period, in your opinion?
The art world needs to seize this moment, when the world is stopped in its tracks. We need to collectively take a deep look at the reality we’ve created for ourselves. This is an opportunity to open the gift of our creativity in order to build a just and sustainable world. We humans are brilliant, and technology has surpassed our dreams. But a shadow has crept in, and the great advances have not served all peoples. A powerful few have taken advantage of the many and this must be addressed. Now is the time to balance the mind with the heart, intellect with love, and to evolve in a compassionate way as we face the challenging times ahead. I’m encouraged by acknowledgment of the importance of the artists in our culture and how important art is in soothing our souls. I feel confident that in this time of deep reflection, when we are questioning what is truly important in life, we will realise that the arts are most essential.
Just Steger: Scribing the Void installation at Odetta Gallery, Bushwick.
How do you strike a balance between the contradicting motivations: commercial v/s creative? How does your interaction with a curator, gallery or client evolve from the initial interface to the working relationship?
I have always had the good fortune to have mutually respectful relationships with the galleries and institutions I’ve worked with. The fact that sculpture is a tough sale tends to set the motivation from the outset to create a show focused on the creation of the work, rather than the commercial aspect. It’s rare to have both critical and commercial success; the connection with a viewer who deeply relates to the power of the work is what fuels me to persevere. I have yet to do a private commission piece, but I have done several large-scale public commissions for the city of Sacramento. I enjoyed the collaboration between the city, architects, engineers, and the public, as everyone involved became a team motivated by the success of the project. My connections with galleries usually end up in relationships that last much longer than the show, and it is these relationships that build mutual commercial success.
Pending, 2017, Wood, paint, string, mud pods. Contemporary artist Kurt Steger. Size variable.
Originally installed in a gallery setting of ODETTA in Brooklyn, then at a residential home in Los Angeles, and thirdly, an iteration at the Governors Island Art Fair off the southern tip of Manhattan. The structure is created by tension caused by the pushing and pulling of sticks and strings combined with the weight of pods of mud often soaked and frozen so the entire structure is in a constant state of imperceptible motion.
Tell us about your studio, what kind of place is it? Could you describe your usual workday in the studio?
My wife, also an artist, and I moved out of New York City three years ago and purchased a home just north of the city. My current studio is a two-story, two car garage. The lower level is my machine shop and the upstairs is my working studio. My wife will soon adopt the upstairs, as I will be building my dream studio on the property over the next year. Our land has large rock outcroppings, mature trees, and wonderful slopes and clearings. I am building a small sculpture park to show my work, as well as other sculptors’ work. I’m in my studio just about every day. I start out in the morning after meditation, tea, breakfast, and time with my wife. Stepping out with coffee in hand, I stroll the property envisioning my future studio, planning the gardens, spotting sites for future sculptures and taking in the morning air as I head to the studio.
Once I enter my studio space, I become fully focused on the tasks at hand. If I have a sculpture underway, I often plan my day the night before so I know what’s next. If I’m working out a new piece or not ready to start, I’ll take time to organise the shop, sweep the floors, sharpen my planes, irons, and chisels, and maintain the machines. This activity aligns me into the present space where something is more apt to happen creatively. When the spark of an idea happens I will visualise it thoroughly in my mind first. Sometimes I’ll make a sketch or a maquette but most times I’ll go right to the material and jump in. This often is the most spontaneous moment in my process.
Lodge, Brooklyn, New York. 2014 – Ongoing.
Lodge is inspired by Native American ceremonies and my interest in psychology. I built an open-air lodge in an empty lot in Bushwick, and invited passersby to enter and talk about their lives, their day, their worries. The lodge became a place to meet strangers and neighbours and talk about common experiences. When the project was finished, I dismantled the lodge and left no trace of its existence. A second Lodge was built on the bank of an inland water way in Maine with a one night ceremony. Currently a Lodge exists at El Garden, a community garden in Bushwick NY. Here vines are trained to eventually replace the wooden structure becoming a living lodge for years to come.
Are you more of a studio artist or naturally collaborative by nature? How do you feel about commissions?
At heart I am a studio artist. I need a lot of alone time in the studio. I value my time sweeping, sharpening, reflecting, and visualising, all of which allow the process to take me along the journey of the work at hand. At a certain point the sculpture takes the lead and I go along for the ride. I bring all my skills to the project, and I’ll often be required to do something beyond my comfort zone. This is when I know that I’m no longer in control, and the sculpture takes on a life of its own. It’s at this point when I enter the mystery of the creative process, when I’m the vehicle for expressing something outside my consciousness. I sense that I’m collaborating with a higher, smarter part of myself, or maybe it’s collaboration with a collective consciousness or humanity. What ever “it” is, it is a great honour to be in the presence of what seems to be pure Creativity.
Contemporary artist Kurt Steger. Urban Structures, Installation view, ArtHelix Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2015.
Is there any topic you would like to be mentored on?
I wish I had a mentor who was a structural engineer, with whom I could consult on a regular basis. I like to test the structural nature of my materials and work in ways that challenge my skills. As a younger artist I would seek-out older artists, as I was most interested in how one is an artist in the world rather than learning technical things. I’m interested in people more than art and some of my sculptures, in particular my current series, are challenging to me in terms of their size and weight. It would be fantastic to have a pro give his or her opinion. I’d also like to be in perpetual psychotherapy, so that I could have a trusted witness to the challenges I place upon myself. It’s important to stay grounded, and therapy has been an important tool for me.
I have been a mentor at various times in my life, and that has been important as well. I like to share my knowledge as a sculptor, as well as my wisdom as a conscious man. I’ve been involved in the Mankind Project, a group of men who strive to be conscious leaders and openhearted witnesses to humankind. It has been my great honour to serve in this community of men, and it has had a great impact on my work.
Before you go – you might like to browse our Artist Interviews. Interviews of artists and outliers on how to be an artist. Contemporary artists on the source of their creative inspiration.