Work samples

  • Whisper in the Woods
    Whisper in the Woods

    A conceptual series, using several images that have been merged, using them much like a painter uses their palette. Capturing the quiet calm of Forest Bathing. A place where we can sit back dream and soak in the feeling of nature. I've always felt a special calm when you are alone except for the trees, plants, and the occasional breeze that whistles through the path. You're immersed in the natural world of nature.

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About Stephen

2024 OTW Artist   Baltimore County  

Spartana creates abstractions or surreal landscapes, where his subjects appear and then fade through spatial dimensions. The viewer is guided on a visual journey through the familiar into unfamiliar environments, layered like scrims of fabric, seamlessly transitioning between organic and inorganic elements. Similar to a dream, the work’s shifting perspectives represented by fluid environmental elements, suggests life’s shifting realities and constant change. His current research utilizes a… more

View Stephen's Resume
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Yin Yang

This is a fantasy series that celebrates nature and all its glory. The wonderful structures of trees remind me so much of x-rays of arteries and veins in our bodies, as they reach out to the sun for light. Along with the trees, I have layered so many elements that I use daily in my artwork, the trees, nature, and in this case, a little mix media, using a wall painting and textures I found created over time. The colors take me away from the real world, and lets my thoughts drift towards space, and the world and where do we go while sitting in the country under a tree looking up at the sky.

  • Escaping_2.jpg
    Escaping_2.jpg

    This is a fantasy series that celebrates nature and all its glory. The wonderful structures of trees remind me so much of x-rays of arteries and veins in our bodies, as they reach out to the sun for light. Along with the trees, I have layered so many elements that I use daily in my artwork, the trees, nature, and in this case, a little mix media, using a wall painting and textures I found created over time. The colors take me away from the real world, and lets my thoughts drift towards space, and the world and where do we go while sitting in the country under a tree looking up at the sky.

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    • Walking in Spaces

    On a trip to Rome while sitting on a hill overlooking the Colosseum I began to contemplate the people who had walked on the ground below throughout history. It would read like the who's who of Roman History. This led me to consider the passage of time and the idea of footprints in time and space. Everywhere you travel has a long history, hidden by time. It’s fascinating to think about how the past has shaped the present and how our actions today will shape the future.

    • Portal to....jpg
      Portal to....jpg

      Connection between the past and present.

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    • World Below 0°

    I’ve photographically captured a frozen scene at the lake's edge and the actual freezing process is revealed in the image. Expansion and movement of floating elements arrested to stillness, freezing a scene of organic material layered in ice layered with the stunning colors of Spring, Summer, and Fall. Light dances across the surface and penetrates below exposing a hidden world, and creating elegant icescapes.


    • Ice Scape.jpg
      Ice Scape.jpg
      Expansion and movement of floating elements arrested to stillness, freezing a scene of organic material layered in ice layered with the stunning colors of Spring, Summer and Fall.
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    • Drifting Through Time

    "Drifting Through Time" is a series that brings together natural elements and humanity as we travel through time. Humans much like nature are transitory. We occupy but a blip in time as individuals with nature existing in its many states and forms for millions of years. My work brings together small glimpses much like a video in time-lapse mode as the imagery fades in and out and glimpses of time overlap. The act of capturing places and spaces in time and bringing them together in a way that they complement each other and enhance each other's design and beauty.
    • Imagine.jpg
      Imagine.jpg
      Young like the trees, such an uncertain future.
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    • Life in Layers


     Photographs are like snowflakes, no two are the same, every moment in time ushers in change from the micro to the macro level. The are each unique in both time and space. Current research utilizes a number of images which function in the same way that painters use brushes and paint palettes; but my paints are moments of time captured through photography, the tools are a combination of various analog films mixed with digital media.
    I extends his research of the interplay between form, texture and light in his new series, “Human-Nature, Life in Layers”. These dream-like landscapes are layered and edited combinations of figurative, floral and mineral elements. Similar to a dream, the work suggests the ephemeral quality of life, the passage of time and the uncertainty of the future.
    Researching different perspectives of the natural world, venturing at times to create images that are more fantasy then reality, Stephen Spartana’s Human-Nature, Life in Layers is a selection of images that celebrate the intimate connection of humans with the earth.  My work utilizes a number of images which function in the same way that painters use brushes and paint palettes; his tools are a combination of various analog films mixed with digital and paint media. The intention is to create a provocative image through layered complex compositions that blend details of shapes, shadow/light and color, coaxing the viewer to look deeper and celebrate further the bond we have with all of nature.
     
    I chooses to focus on the hidden beauty that surrounds us, encouraging the viewer to preserve our beautiful and fragile planet and “discover what time hides forever in plain sight”. *
    *Richard Powers, The Overstory

    Read more about this project

    • Caress of Maples.jpg
      Caress of Maples.jpg
      From the series "Life in Layers" with nature as a function of time and space layered with figurative images as the gatekeeper to the health of the environment.
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    • Impressions of Portugal

    Capturing the flavor of Europe's oldest country, Portugal.

    • Through the Veil
      Through the Veil
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    • Intertwined

    In my work I attempt to create fanciful landscapes by combining the human form with multiple natural scapes. The interplay of black & white forms overlaid with details of flowers take on the function of strata. I’ve expanded the use of natural elements to include scenes of nature during times of growth and decay. The natural reflective surface of water creates amazing mirrors of the world they reflect.  Recently I’ve become intrigued with tattoos and body painting and found that the patterns of leaves or sedimentary rocks naturally suggest intricate tattoos.  These compositional layers of elements give the viewer reason to look closer, to see beneath the surface. For me the interplay between the human form, organic elements, and the landscape create incredible beauty, as they are intertwined on earth, coexisting as one.
              
    My artwork is an extension of views of nature, humanity and our relationship to Earth. I believes strongly in a positive approach to life and our world, with the understanding that we, as stewards, have the responsibility of providing a better place for the next generation to thrive. I focus on the beauty that surrounds us, encouraging the viewer to preserve our beautiful and fragile planet. The images are achieved by combining analog infra-red B&W images with digital shots made with Nikon D5.
     

    Read more about this project

    • Inter-twined.jpg
      Inter-twined.jpg
      The layering of a figure with the profile of a lilly, the image in which the series is based upon.
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    • Interwoven

    In this series Spartana creates dreamlike landscapes by combining the human form with multiple organic elements. It continues a concept from his earlier study, “Human-Nature,” which explored the interplay of black and white forms overlaid with details of flowers. Here, he expands the use of natural elements to include landscapes and details of nature during times of growth and decay.
     
    Spartana says they are “like the strata of memories. The mirrored surface of water reflects skylight into a hidden hollow, revealing something new, yet familiar. The patterns of leaves or sedimentary rocks naturally suggest intricate tattoos. These compositional layers of elements give the viewer reason to look closer, to see beneath the surface. The interplay between the human form, organic elements, and the landscape create incredible beauty for me, as they are intertwined on earth, coexisting as one. We are of the earth, and how we treat our environment affects all of us.”
    • Leaves in Fall.jpg
      Leaves in Fall.jpg
      Series is about nature, textures and the transition through time. The human element is man's influence on nature.
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    • Human Nature

    A earlier body of work layering images of human figures and flowers done in analog, concentrating on strong colors and composition. The work is a complement to the macro flower paintings of artist Georgia O'Keefe. Her work was my inspiration and the beginning of the study that I'm doing today.

    • Surrounded.jpg
      Surrounded.jpg
      Soft blend of an form , hands sweeping the body encased in the flow of a petal.
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    • Whisper in the Woods

    A conceptual series, using several images that have been merged, using them much like a painter uses their palette. Capturing the quiet calm of Forest Bathing. A place where we can sit back dream and soak in the feeling of nature. I've always felt a special calm when you are alone except for the trees, plants, and the occasional breeze that whistles through the path. You're immersed in the natural world of nature.

    • Aspen Grove
      Aspen Grove
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