Steph Mansolf lives and works in San Francisco CA. She is always looking for new projects, and new people to eat ice cream with
You can contact her at: stephmansolf@gmail.com


Artist Statement:

Girls with four arms reach out for tapeworms. Tigers share beds wit boys who have X's for eyes. Women birth seedpods that will bloom into plant babies. Conjoined twins blow fire. These characters wander through a dreamlike baroque landscapes, but are advised to proceed with caution. Immersed in the corners of these brightly wound spaces dangerous creatures and creations dwell. Mutation, insanity and disease are spying on the characters through an intricate lace curtain, thirsting for violence, enamored by the grotesque, craving the abnormal.

In my practice I delve into whimsically dark corners of the human mind. Attempting to cross unseen boundaries I allow my viewers to step into new realities and alternate dimensions. I draw interest and subject matter from pop-culture, the modern design world, the Victorian era, technology, and science.

Visuals in my work incorporate an excessive and intentional overuse of aesthetics pushed to the point of obsession. This landscape of excess allows the creation of a hybrid space where audiences can engage with taboo subject matter removed from terror or discomfort. My work does not attempt to draw conclusions, only to explore, and begin to come to terms with the disturbing tendencies inherent to the world in which I exist.

Primarily working with sequential prints, drawings, artist books, and creating installation based spaces; I create non-linear nested fictions that depict my alternate dimension. Adopting a 'Choose your own adventure', styled approach, I am fascinated by the notion that the process of defining meaning within a work of art can be a collaboration between creator and audience. I am constantly working to create and maintain this dynamic.

CV:

Education:
BA in Studio Art, UC Santa Barbara 2007
Graduated with high honors

Shows:
Digresio : Battlehymns of the Rapture
Santa Barbara CA
Gallery 1434
6/2007

Free Cable
Presidio Motel
Santa Barbara CA
6/2007

Jill of all Trades
Presidio Motel
Santa Barbara CA
9/2007

A Melodramatic Retelling of an Unfortunate Seduction in 16 Parts
(the grand re-opening of the Presidio Motel)
Presidio Motel
Santa Barbara CA
6/2008

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
CCA
San Francisco CA
10/2008

Rafflesia Remix : A corpse flower anthology
PLAySpace Gallery CCA
San Francisco CA
1/2009

Dilemma or Delight?
The Ink People
Duo show with Jen Prather
Eureka CA
5/2009

Acid Lovechild
Contemporary Arts Forum
Bloom Projects with Kat Trajano
Santa Barbara CA 6/2009

Dear Catastrophe
Right Window at ATA
Window installation at Artists' Television Access
San Francisco CA 11/2009

Awards:
The Helen Award - 2007

Lectures:

A Ghetto guide to silkscreening:
An instructional lecture on using vinyl decals applied to silkscreens as an efficient and cost-effective way to create screenprints. Taught in Tatiana Ginsberg's intermediate print class at UCSB Fall 2007.

Curatorial:
Rafflesia Remix: A corpse flower anthology
PLAySPACE Gallery CCA
San Francisco CA
1/2009