Steve Bannatyne East Sussex, United Kingdom

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Steve Bannatyne is a mixed-media artist based in East Sussex, working across painting, relief, assemblage and sculpture. Using reclaimed timber, found paper and discarded materials, his practice explores structure, balance, memory and transformation through processes of layering, construction, erosion and removal.

I am a mixed-media artist based in East Sussex, working across painting, relief, assemblage and sculpture. My practice is predominantly material-led, exploring relationships between structure, surface, colour and form through the use of reclaimed and discarded materials.

I work extensively with salvaged timber, plywood, found paper and other materials that carry traces of their previous use. Rather than concealing these histories, I incorporate existing marks, imperfections and signs of wear into the work, allowing the materials to influence its development.

My approach is intuitive and experimental, often beginning without a predetermined outcome. Through processes of construction, layering, sanding, erosion and removal, I build and disrupt surfaces, revealing fragments of earlier decisions. I am interested in the tension between control and chance, particularly where carefully considered structures begin to shift, fragment or appear unstable.

There is an ongoing dialogue between my two-dimensional and three-dimensional work. Paintings frequently develop as constructed surfaces, while sculptural pieces explore balance, geometry and the relationships between individual forms. Colour plays an increasingly important role, both as a structural element and as a means of creating visual tension.

Themes of memory, transformation, repair and impermanence run throughout my practice, although I prefer to leave space for interpretation rather than impose a fixed narrative.

My current research is focused on developing a more ambitious sculptural language, experimenting with scale, construction and spatial relationships while continuing to explore the possibilities of reclaimed materials.