The paintings of Myron Stephens operate on a subconscious plane, directly targeting the lost and lonely memories of viewers. Specific emotions and feelings are depicted by elements such as turbulent skies, shadowy foregrounds…a figure immersed in the psychological realm of a stream or river.

The backgrounds are based upon the landscape of Roseville, CA, where the artist resides. In Stephens’ works, however, cliffs become taller, trees denser, and colors more typical of Baroque masters such as Caravaggio and Rembrandt. It is through these liberties that his paintings take on an emotional complexity, and divorce themselves of academic representation.

His works provide a composite of several emotions that reflect the way that the human psyche actually thinks and feels. Through the dark and sometimes threatening landscape, Stephens provides a glimmer of hope. There is an underlying focus upon the positive, even through bleak and challenging circumstances. Stephens takes viewers on a moody journey through expansive scenes shaped by color, light and a single human form.