The Memory of Pain catalogue cover
Rarely was the full meaning of the prints he produced entirely evident in their imagery. Their subjects might be recognizable, clearly drawn, poetically composed and even lovingly portrayed. Yet, beyond the readability of the imagery, underneath the narrative he expressed,beyond symbolism and metaphor, Steeves continuously sought to depict what could not be shown, only sensed. In the truest interpretation of abstraction, Steeves pointed to absence as an intellectual concept.
Tom Smart from his essay The Memory of Pain
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- their season in the wilderness
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- a journey of healing
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- a primal affirmation of life
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- crossing a threshold
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- good and evil
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- I’m not sure where exactly we’re headed
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- I’ve also felt the aftershocks
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- it’s a ritual that’s worked
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- it’s pressing reality
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- living with the weight of it
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- most blind to what’s closest to us
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- realms of consciousness
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- recapture something that’s missing
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- resolve
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- the memory of pain
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- the upward push
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- uncharted ground
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- vivid reminders of my mortality
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- these planes of existence
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- an ever broadening horizon
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- its tensions and contradictions
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- mostly because of my own fears
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- I hope you have moments when you take heart