My interest in abstract painting was kindled in high school when reading about Pablo Picasso. His cubist approach to painting and sculpture resonated with my artistic sensibility and I found myself attracted to the energy his work emanated. One painting in particular, Guernica, a 1937 painting about the effects of war, captured my imagination, especially his use of simple shapes to create a multi-layered image. This novel approach to painting led me to perceive that everything in life has a purpose and that it, and we, are all interconnected. This was when I started experimenting with abstract forms in my art.

My paintings consist of multiple images within one – an implementation of objects, human life, nature, and fictional characters forming one image, and creating the potential for multiple interpretations for the viewer. In one way, these paintings represent freedom: freedom of expression, freedom to be different, and freedom of interpretation. I want people to freely interpret my paintings. A pupil is not just a pupil, a body is not just a body. I see more; there’s always more than initially meets the eye and I want my art to get people, like myself, to look within.

Stephen St. Surin