My Artists - Steve Karn

Steve Karn – From My Personal View

Steve Karn’s creative journey began some time ago — way back — when he studied painting and film-making at art school in East London as a mature student, following a one-year foundation course at Colchester Institute. After art school, his focus shifted towards music production, yet painting and image-making continued to resurface over the years. To this day, Steve divides his time between music and visual art, allowing both practices to inform and enrich one another.

His creative process is instinctive and unforced. Projects tend to present themselves in a haphazard way, and Steve understands that inspiration cannot be summoned on demand. Instead, he has learned patience — recognising when something is forming, seizing the moment when it arrives, and trusting the quieter periods in between. It’s a waiting game, one he approaches with calm acceptance.

Steve makes images primarily for his own pleasure, drawing inspiration from a wide and varied range of sources: postcards, current affairs, pop culture, nature, changing seasons, night-time pavements, urban landscapes, films, caravan parks, the UK seaside, and much more. This richness often leads him to develop narratives through multiple related works. He enjoys variations on a theme and finds deep satisfaction in creating series and collections.

There is no single medium that defines Steve’s work. Mixed media allows him to explore the full potential of picture-making — paint straight from the tube, scissors and glue, digital applications, and high-resolution tablets all sit comfortably side by side. For Steve, tradition and technology coexist naturally, without hierarchy or limitation.

Only recently has he begun to show his work publicly, finding the experience both thrilling and nerve-wracking — a feeling many artists quietly recognise.

From my personal view, Steve is an absolute gentleman. Quiet within our community group chat, yet always completely on top of information, always enthusiastic, and always ready to help in any way he can. His presence is calm, reliable, and generous.

He also has a beautiful relationship with his close ones, who are clearly very supportive — something that subtly reflects in both his confidence and his work. His art is truly unique, a genuine pleasure to look at, thoughtful and quietly captivating.

I’m incredibly happy that Steve is part of our group.