Stephen Schulyta

Bio


Stephen SCHULYTA, (1952 - )

Western Australian artist, born Subiaco.


Maybe it isn't so much Schulyta's desire to physically do something that continually questions reality by making the illusions in his work increasingly realistic but more a dynamic combination of love and lust, torment, loathing and a spiritual hopefulness, that is laid bare in this his 'Anthology', a collection of current works.
Photographic images are used as references for these paintings from which the emotive and narrative are depicted in finite detail that bare all the influence of Hyperrealism - 'The simulation of something', according to the post structuralist, Jean Baudrillard, 'that never really existed.'

Stephen has always been an artist. He studied art throughout his school years achieving 'detail confidence' at an early age. Steve made his first sale in 1969, marking the beginning of a working life which saw him, with the $5 in his pocket, heading bush to establish his credentials in the mining industry. Legacies of these years include a large mural painted on the dunny wall on Big Rat in the Abrolhos.

1982 heralded new beginnings in the North West which gave way to a more disciplined approach by Schulyta to his art. After a mind altering epiphany, 'Diamonds at Argyle as Tears of the Barramundi' was executed, leaving the artist with an enduring spiritual connection to the Kimberly. Stephen delved into an intensive study of dream symbolism and academic realism and ultimately presented his findings in landscapes depicting those spiritual places. This 'connectivity' continues to pervade his current work.

The turn of the millennium saw a shift in consciousness inspired by the human condition and politics, not to mention a life altering episode the following year which facilitated a switch to upping brushes full time, enabling the artist to develop the highly finished craftsmanship we see in his work today.


Since then, Stephen's long held ambition to build a studio has taken shape in the small township of Kirup which is situated on the Artist Trail in the state's southwest. Through Schulyta's endeavours artist in residency programmes, workshops, exhibitions and activities will be afforded the wider community at his TRT Studios.