ARTIST STATEMENT
I aim to create spaces where expectation, awe and disappointment converse, quarrel and make up, never quite settling on how best to confront the ineffable. I turn to photography as a means of celebrating slowness, uncertainty, and queer joy. Skeptical of the medium’s authoritative depiction of “what has been,” and the ways it has been used as a tool to uphold power structures, I allow my subject matter to surprise and correct me, leaving me with more questions than answers. I emphasize the contingency and multiplicity of my subjects as a way of addressing our shifting relationship to the world around us. Within my photographs, representations and reflections often lay on top of one another, pointing to how making sense of one’s place is a matter of sifting through the slippery and ever-changing landscape.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Anika Steppe (b. Ann Arbor, MI) lives and works in Chicago, IL. She holds an MFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin and a BS in Cinema & Photography from Ithaca College. Her work has been exhibited most recently in Austin, Houston, New Orleans and New York. She has been an artist-in-residence at Interlochen Center for the Arts, Malo Residency, Monson Arts, and Vermont Studio Center. She also works and exhibits collaboratively with Marta Lee under the moniker Frances Brady.
© Anika Steppe