Steven Matthew Brown: Glen Arbor Art Association Artist in Residence 2004

By Norm Dagen
Sun contributor
I often wonder why at a particular time, a noteworthy individual will magically appear in my life. I have found myself wondering this about Steven Matthew Brown, Artist in Residence of the Glen Arbor Art Association.
The GAAA will hold Brown’s art opening at Thoreson Farm on Tuesday, September 21 at 6:30 p.m.. — Ed.

During the school year, I am a substitute teacher and spend my summers working at Anderson’s Market in Glen Arbor. Meeting Steven was a chance incidence. Masses of people waft through Anderson’s and most seldom engage in conversation. That wasn’t the case with Steven. He instantaneously engaged in a dialogue and was bursting with inquiries about the community. Steven had just arrived to begin his month long commitment as artist in residence.
Immediately likeable with a cheerful manner, you cannot help getting caught up in the energy this young man projects. According to Brown, “art” is what he does for his emotional livelihood.
“Art?” The dialogue finished at this moment, as another customer waited in the check out line, and thankfully a patient one. An extensive online Google search revealed a link to Steven’s website and a statement, penned by Brown regarding his work.
“The mystery of spatial perception is a large part of what compels me to create. There is an ephemeral and fleeting beauty in the act of experiencing natural or manmade volume, structure or space that I enjoy trying to capture and manifest for the viewer. Most recently I have exhibited formal sculptures made of thermoplastic that deal with the phenomenal aspects of sight and depth perception, as well as mixed media drawings that observe in more accessible visual language the tenuousness of human structures and divisions of space. I am interested in all materials and processes, and value uncertainty and discovery most highly.”
Brown is a native of Michigan, born in Fenton. He graduated with a Bachelor in Fine Arts and honors from the College for Creative Studies, Detroit. His catalog of awards and achievements are very significant for a young man of 23. At 19, Brown was presented the Outstanding Student Achievement Award from The Rhode Island School of Design, as well as the Walter B. Ford Competitive Scholarship from the College for Creative Studies. The subsequent years were rewarded with a range of honors and accolades from the Detroit Institute of Art, Crooked Tree Art Center, Petoskey and the College for Creative Studies.
Upon completion of his education, Brown also received the Outstanding
Fine Art Graduate Honor from his Detroit based college. In 2003, Brown was again acknowledged with the Outstanding Student Achievement Award by the International Sculpture Center, Hamilton, New Jersey.
So what about the “art?”
Sitting on the concrete between the open barn doors, at Thoreson Farm, Steven talked. Steven is very fond of conversation but be forewarned, you may need a dictionary. There is a difference between talking and having a dialogue of substance. The topics of conversation naturally revolved around his work. Obfuscating, spatial, ephemeral, tenuousness, in situ, intaglio, juxtaposition, installation — Brown uses these words like old friends.
The conversation jumped from issues to topics. Education was a focal discussion since Steven also substitute-teaches in the Oxford and Avondale School Districts.
Something jogged a memory of a lyric from a favorite October Project song and a lively discussion about music was in motion. History, geography, languages, grammar, the problems with television and pop culture, hunting and famous quotations. It is clear that there is nothing that Brown cannot discuss and he does so with intelligence and insight. He is a self-professed reading junkie. In retrospect, each topic actually came back around to Steven’s works. Being multi-faceted, whether he is painting, sculpting, drawing, welding or installing cascades of fabric in a meadow behind the Thoreson, there is a passion to express himself. Steven has an ability to find the potential in a wide and unusual variety of medium.
While conversing at Thoreson Farm, he wandered the farm estate and revealed two completed works, but the artist isn’t positive they are complete.
Suppression is being exercised, noting too much detail will spoil the eventual revelation of the work. One piece entitled “Infestation” makes use of the former dairy shed and a multitude of hand-painted glass in pastel shades.
Seeing the creation for yourself is to understand the implication of the title. The second piece, entitled “Less Than Zero” makes faultless sense. This installment employs a corncrib, a weight scale and cleverness.
Steven doesn’t actually label his creations for concern that a scripted title will restrict the physical boundaries of what viewers are to consider as part of the installation. The four horizons are the walls of the installations container. Currently, Brown might be spreading himself a little thin.
Coinciding with accepting the residency position through the GAAA, he is also mounting an exhibition of mixed media drawings on paper, as well as other two-dimensional work from September 10 through October 23 at the College for Creative Studies Alumni Gallery. Additionally, Steven is participating in the Detroit Artists Market “Biennial.” At the conclusion of Brown’s Glen Art commitment, he heads back home for a brief stay and then onto another residency from November to January in Oregon.
The wisdom of the Art Association and their selection of Brown is absolutely understandable. It’s clear that his opening will be, for many, the first exposure to this type of work. Brown’s opening takes place at the Thoreson Farm on the evening of September 21. The opening will also include an address by the artist to the community.
Which takes us back to the beginning of our narrative, why do we meet certain people at particular times in our lives? Someone once said that knowledge is power. Being an educator, I believe that knowledge is the only true power and all other forms of power are human fabrications. We should make it our daily aspiration to acquire power and share the power with those around us. Personally, there was a requirement for more power and Steven has a perfect resource to explore.
If you would like to learn more about Steven Matthew Brown or see some of this work, Please check his website at www.stevenbrownfinearts.net. For more information regarding Steven’s presentation, contact the Glen Arbor Art Association at 231-334-6112 or visit www.glenarborart.org.