Benjamin David Steele
Impossible Objects is a series of oil paintings constructed to
faithfully represent installations in my studio. The installations
are composed of plaster, wood, mirrors, other optical
instruments, and projected landscape imagery. I am interested
in the feeling of infinity, which comes from images of idealized
landscapes, contrasted with the shallow depth of the actual space
represented.
I have become fascinated with visual-effects cinematography,
or rather physical techniques employed to create a sense of the
impossible before digital technology existed. I have used many
of these techniques in installations, such as rear projection,
matte paintings, desilvered mirrors, as well as scale models
and backdrops, to create scenes that feel digitally manipulated
and evoke otherworldly associations but are in fact from the
natural physical world. These installations serve as inspiration
for oil paintings whose subject refers back to the illusory act of
painting. A viewer is made to believe in a scene that does not
actually exist.