Steve Locke, Resident Artist Lecture 2023

Steve Locke gives a lecture talking about his interdisciplinary practice which spans drawing, painting, portraiture, bookmaking, and sculpture. Locke states that his work has always been about love; he paints the people he loves and allows visual art to give him the freedom to explore his sexuality. Locke tells the participants to reflect on the fact that people won’t last, but art will last. This reflection has also made Locke think about the way in which he approaches colour in his paintings. For Locke, colour has been a way of talking about emotion, and not just thinking about it as a system. Locke says that this spiritual connection with painting has made him realize that God makes artists in the world in order to show people the things they need to see, and that artists pay attention to things that are often ignored. Locke then reflects on the history of portraiture, which for him has always been about a history of power. Locke says that this reflection on portraiture has made him ask the following question: How do we make a picture that troubles the sense of masculine power which is baked into portraiture? Locke also reflects on the importance of race in his work, saying how he wants to create art work that includes all people of colour, and to live as an artist without blaming anyone.