Steven Kennard
biography |
portfolio | artists listing
b. 1956, Enfield, England
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2008 Turned Wood-Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Collectors of Wood Art Forum, Scottsdale, AZ
2007 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, Chicago, IL
The New Cartography of Craft, Mary Black Gallery, Halifax, Canada
2006 Turned Wood-Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2004-05 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, New York, NY
2003 Celebration of Craft, Mary Black Gallery, Halifax Nova Scotia, Canada
2001 Watermark Exhibition, Mary Black Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
1999 Festival of the Art, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
1990-91 Créa Gallery exposition, Cadoin, France
38 Artisans de l'Aquitaine, St. Emilion, France
1989 Exposition de Sculpture, Dominique Rayou, Sarlat la Canéda, France
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Steve began making custom furniture and restoring antiques in Suffolk, England. He started wood turning in 1979, in order to provide himself with the components he needed in this business and is largely self-taught. Steve quickly saw the potential for self-expression in the artistic aspect of turning. He has developed a distinctive style of work while acknowledging the inspiration he has drawn from contemporary artists. In 1983 and 1984, he was in two-man exhibitions in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, England with ceramic artist Gary Wornell.
In 1989 he moved to France and lived in the Dordogne, in a 400 year old farm house where he continued his artistic turning and furniture making. His turned boxes featured in the exhibition of the French sculptor Dominique Rayou in the medieval town of Sarlat. From this he was invited to exhibit his work in various galleries and exhibitions in the South of France including Créa in Cadouin and Art Présent and l'Exposition d'Artisanat d'Art in Toulouse and in other galleries in Carcassonne and Lascaux. Steve was chosen to be one of the "38 Artisans of the Aquintaine" exhibiting in the beautiful old cloisters in the famous wine growing town of Saint Emilion in both 1990 and 1991,
and was one of three chosen to represent artist-craftsmen of the area, by sending examples of his work for exhibition in Fukuoka, Japan.
In 1997 Steve moved to Nova Scotia on the East Coast of Canada. His work is also exhibited in del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA and in private collections around the world, including China, Korea, Europe, Scandinavia and North America
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
The woodturner artist's journey of experimentation and learning is one of continuous discovery. We develop and perfect our own skills and explore techniques and methods that work well for each of us. We find tools we like to work with and work we like to produce. We also gravitate toward specific materials we find sympathetic in helping us each to achieve our goals in the different projects we undertake. We grow into a unique and intensely personal relationship with our work. Because I work alone, as most artists do, certain introspective aspects of my voyage can only be communicated to another person through the medium of the work itself. It is a real inspiration to be able to watch the reactions and emotions evoked when someone sees a piece of my work. Whether the viewer is intrigued, moved to laughter or to meditation, I receive enormous satisfaction and the motivation to keep exploring and moving on.
The world is being smothered with mediocrity and uniformity all wrapped in a plastic easy care package. The general public is being taught to look no higher than this when it comes to standards of quality and design. It is important for me to think that when I create something it might in some small way break that mould of dull predictability.
As it is for many artists, my search was and still is for the perfect form, perfect proportions and the perfect piece of wood with which to create an object. This makes a journey without an end, as each achievement makes the goal recede further into the distance. I have been working with box forms for many years and I find myself always returning down that path. The encouraging aspect - the growth - is that I can look back at my earliest work from time to time, seeing in those designs the seeds of the present ones.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2008 Turned Wood-Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Collectors of Wood Art Forum, Scottsdale, AZ
2007 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, Chicago, IL
The New Cartography of Craft, Mary Black Gallery, Halifax, Canada
2006 Turned Wood-Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2004-05 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, New York, NY
2003 Celebration of Craft, Mary Black Gallery, Halifax Nova Scotia, Canada
2001 Watermark Exhibition, Mary Black Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
1999 Festival of the Art, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
1990-91 Créa Gallery exposition, Cadoin, France
38 Artisans de l'Aquitaine, St. Emilion, France
1989 Exposition de Sculpture, Dominique Rayou, Sarlat la Canéda, France
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Steve began making custom furniture and restoring antiques in Suffolk, England. He started wood turning in 1979, in order to provide himself with the components he needed in this business and is largely self-taught. Steve quickly saw the potential for self-expression in the artistic aspect of turning. He has developed a distinctive style of work while acknowledging the inspiration he has drawn from contemporary artists. In 1983 and 1984, he was in two-man exhibitions in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, England with ceramic artist Gary Wornell.
In 1989 he moved to France and lived in the Dordogne, in a 400 year old farm house where he continued his artistic turning and furniture making. His turned boxes featured in the exhibition of the French sculptor Dominique Rayou in the medieval town of Sarlat. From this he was invited to exhibit his work in various galleries and exhibitions in the South of France including Créa in Cadouin and Art Présent and l'Exposition d'Artisanat d'Art in Toulouse and in other galleries in Carcassonne and Lascaux. Steve was chosen to be one of the "38 Artisans of the Aquintaine" exhibiting in the beautiful old cloisters in the famous wine growing town of Saint Emilion in both 1990 and 1991,
and was one of three chosen to represent artist-craftsmen of the area, by sending examples of his work for exhibition in Fukuoka, Japan.
In 1997 Steve moved to Nova Scotia on the East Coast of Canada. His work is also exhibited in del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA and in private collections around the world, including China, Korea, Europe, Scandinavia and North America
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
The woodturner artist's journey of experimentation and learning is one of continuous discovery. We develop and perfect our own skills and explore techniques and methods that work well for each of us. We find tools we like to work with and work we like to produce. We also gravitate toward specific materials we find sympathetic in helping us each to achieve our goals in the different projects we undertake. We grow into a unique and intensely personal relationship with our work. Because I work alone, as most artists do, certain introspective aspects of my voyage can only be communicated to another person through the medium of the work itself. It is a real inspiration to be able to watch the reactions and emotions evoked when someone sees a piece of my work. Whether the viewer is intrigued, moved to laughter or to meditation, I receive enormous satisfaction and the motivation to keep exploring and moving on.
The world is being smothered with mediocrity and uniformity all wrapped in a plastic easy care package. The general public is being taught to look no higher than this when it comes to standards of quality and design. It is important for me to think that when I create something it might in some small way break that mould of dull predictability.
As it is for many artists, my search was and still is for the perfect form, perfect proportions and the perfect piece of wood with which to create an object. This makes a journey without an end, as each achievement makes the goal recede further into the distance. I have been working with box forms for many years and I find myself always returning down that path. The encouraging aspect - the growth - is that I can look back at my earliest work from time to time, seeing in those designs the seeds of the present ones.