Kuranda artist Steven Royster invites visitors to explore their sense of spirituality at his new exhibition, Within. Royster said the works in Within were mixed media pieces which had multi-layered meanings. "The nature of my work takes a very long time to create," Royster said. "A lot of the work is done on paper and mounted on canvas or board. I might use printmaking inks, charcoal, graphite, powered oxides and concrete oxides...almost always the final layer is oil paint."
"I work really ruggedly as well as refined. I can scratch an eye lash or pick up a six inch grinder and mark the canvas; I encourage chance to be in my work and form a new direction."
"I am very keen on responsive creating, one mark encourages another mark or texture, one layer elicits another and hopefully they develop a sense of something alive."
Royster, who was raised in an Indian missionary community in the 1960s and whose father and grandfather were both missionaries, is strongly connected to religion and its concept through the pieces in this new exhibition.
"The works in Within are an attempt to visually define spirit; they are visual allegories pointing towards the elusive nature of spirit or God."
"The work has many layers and levels of meaning. You have to look through to see what is happening within it, inside it. I mean that literally as well; when you first look at the works you will see the image on the surface, but in time you will be drawn in, seduced in, to see something else."
"In a sense, I have tried to instill the works in this exhibition with my own spirit, so that when you look at the work, you can feel something more than just graphite and acrylic."
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