Stefanie Trow is a British artist who studied Visual Arts at Salford University, graduating in 2004. She now lives and works in Manchester, UK.
Driven by a fascination with the natural world and the human experience, Stefanie explores these themes through painting, drawing & print. Taking inspiration from personal connections with the landscape, she seeks out moments where nature intersects with human activity, resulting in large, textural works in Kodachrome tones. Influenced by magical realism, Les Nabis, and abstract expressionism, Stefanie prioritizes color over detail, employing impasto brushstrokes and delicate washes.
The essence of everyday life becomes a meditative process and a well of inspiration. Moments, thoughts, and feelings are noted and reflected upon through various mediums such as sketching, photographs, memory, film stills, and archival images. Nature in Stefanie's paintings is “treated not as a passive backdrop but as an active and loving agent with its own quiet subjectivity” - Lucy Wright, Artist & Researcher.
Life's fleeting glimpses are captured on paper and canvas, creating evocative scenes where subjects shift in and out of focus, resembling overlapping memories. Starting on paper with pencil, ink, and collage, each study transforms into a communion between observation, imagination, and memory. Embracing the free-flowing nature of ink, Stefanie allows the paint to act like a memory, blooming and morphing past the intended edges. The drawings serve as springboards into the imagination, akin to a Rorschach test, guiding the interpretation of inkblots for the next steps. Sometimes, cutting and reassembling the image is necessary to maintain spontaneity.
Upon deciding the final composition, the image is sketched in freehand charcoal on canvas and painted in dark, broody colors against vibrant backgrounds. The scenes become less specific to time and place, hinting at potential realities and emotions. Stefanie often pushes the image towards abstraction, with parts remaining vivid while others drip and slide away, creating a new reality for the viewer to explore.
Stefanie’s work is in numerous private collections and has been exhibited across the UK at galleries such as the Albemarle Gallery (London), Contemporary Six Gallery, and Comme Ca Gallery (Manchester). She has been featured in Baaba Maal’s music video “Gilli Men” and a Boehringer Ingelheim TV advert. Most recently, she has been selected for the Jackson Art Painting Prize and elected as a member of MAFA (Manchester Academy of Fine Arts)."