FALLEN GRACE No. 2, photography, acrylic, and ink on birch panel

Stev’nn Hall is a Toronto-based mixed media artist. The artist’s recent landscape works center on familiar places, taking a photographic base to which the artist adds his own contemplative alterations, aiming to produce a particular mood.

FEVER DREAM No. 3, photography, oil, and ink on birch panel

The recent landscape works in Hall’s portfolio seem to reference classical, romantic styles of painting, and impressionism by artist like Monet. Many of the works directly reference locations from the artist’s past, or important memories of family and loss. The altered-photograph look, in combination with the dark, cool color palette reinforces a sense of melancholy in the works.

I also enjoy Hall’s series of portrait photographs, where the subjects battle images of themselves in bizarrely visceral yet undeniably metaphorical scenarios. Using a variety of photographic manipulation techniques, Hall photographs his subjects in dynamic poses and in purposeful modes of dress, creating what are essentially portraits, but that say a lot more about the subject than traditional head-and-shoulders views.

ZACHARI AGAINST HIMSELF, photography