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'I lived near a serial killer': Steven Shearer on turning teen angst and death metal into high art
He rarely gives interviews and hates explaining his work – yet his stunning paintings, inspired by subcultures and German Romanticism, reveal a lot about this reclusive Canadian
TL;DR
- Steven Shearer is a shy and reclusive Canadian artist whose work spans 40 years and multiple media.
- His art includes paintings of long-haired teens, collages of appropriated images, and billboard-sized poetry inspired by heavy metal lyrics.
- Shearer grew up in Port Coquitlam, near serial killer Robert Pickton, which influenced his early sense of dark forces.
- He is drawn to heavy metal imagery and iconography, twisting references to bands and musicians with nods to art history.
- His paintings often feature androgynous, tense portraits of lonely youths on the brink of manhood.
- Newer works show figures that have aged and withered, reflecting the fear and discomfort of middle age.
- Shearer also creates the 'Sleepers' series from internet images of people sleeping and large-scale poems from extreme metal lyrics.
- He views his work as a "double cultural archaeology," mining the past and archiving the present.
- Shearer aims for his art to be universal, allowing viewers in the future to connect with the figures regardless of specific references.