In February, the ArtiFactory Gallery presents a show of Steven Erickson’s oil paintings. Steven has created a large and diverse body of work over the last 20 years, but about five years ago, he began working mostly on small-scale square paintings. Having always been an artist who explored a wide range of visual ideas, Steven had the thought that a limited format and medium would create a kind of continuity to the work while he could explore anything he wanted to. The most interesting art to him is the art that leaves a kind of after effect, which stimulates your sense of perception and awareness. You walk away seeing the world differently and become aware of how your brain is piecing things together. To that end, his paintings have the quality of something observed without knowing exactly what that something is.

Steven was educated at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and at the University of Iowa, from which he earned an MFA in Painting, graduating with honors in 1993. He’s had solo shows in many galleries in eastern Iowa and in Minneapolis, and his work is held in public and private collections including The First Banks of Minneapolis, The University of Iowa Museum of Art, The University of Iowa College of Business, The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and The University of Iowa College of Law. He lives with his wife in Iowa City where he is the Manager of Design and Installation at the Stanley Museum of Art.

There will be an opening reception on Friday Feb.6 from 6-8 p.m. The Gallery is open Wednesday and Friday 4-6 p.m. and Saturday 1-3 p.m., or by appointment on the website (artifactory.artsiowacity.org). Admission is free.