Strange Occurrences

Steve Mackie

April 2003

Steve Mackie presents two bodies of work that utilize the landscape as a backdrop for his political observations on society. In the first body of paintings, the Northern Wilderness landscape is the stage for a juxtaposistion of disparate images that float across the canvas, disregarding scale and pictoral logic. This collage method of constructing a surface allows play for his humourous and ironic reflections. The resulting effect is a seamless surrealist presentation imbued with Canadian satire.Steve Mackie

The second body of work, appearing at first glance to be a high-chroma paint surface reminiscent of the landscape Tom Thomson, is actually composed of strips of plastic "sign vinyl," glued in layers upon a plastic surface. The plasticising of traditional motif allows Mackie to rexamine cultural identity, using landscape as pop icon.

Mackie, originally from Walkerton, attended Walkerton District Secondary School, the same school attended by the celebrated painter David Milne, is a resident of Cargill.