Anne Steves

The practice of Anne J Steves explores drawing's role as a conversation between the actual and the symbolic. Her fabric drawings question the authority we place in the built environment and in those individuals that inhabit these structures. She is interested in the ways that material and concept, repetition and memory, come together to create the illusion of an authoritative truth.

Anne uses residential maps and building plans as patterns to form fabric drawings that have the potential to be worn. These fabric drawings give the viewer the option to imagine themselves in the character of the space. Through the act of laying down, drawing, cutting and sewing together the enclosures of a structural plan, elements of that structure's physical and social properties are revealed. The hand made quality remains obvious in the work so as to undermine the authority of the structure and keep in mind what is lacking. Anne is constantly questioning the truths of a place through the act of making; a gesture that comes from growing up in Wales, where places rarely change, and moving to Vancouver, a city that is yet to stand still and reflect.

Since graduating from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design ( now Emily Carr University) in 2007, Anne has exhibited in group exhibitions in Vancouver, Victoria, and London, England.  She is currently pursuing her MFA in Visual Arts at the University of Victoria.

Courses:

Art 201 (Drawing)