Stephen Florimbi is a consummate and persistent student of painting. He was trained in traditional methods of oil painting and drawing at the University of New Hampshire by professors, Craig Hood and Grant Drumheller. Their encouragement supported the development of his own expressive style and sparked his enduring exploration of the painting process.
Born in Philadelphia, he moved to Madrid Spain at the age of six where he was introduced to the works of masters in the Prado Museum. “Feeling the emotion conveyed in Goya’s, The Third of May in Madrid made me keenly aware of the power of painting—from then on, I was hooked.”
In college, Stephen studied drawing, painting, sculpture and woodworking. In the summers he worked as a carpenter building timber-frame houses as well as doing field and lab work for the university forestry department. After graduating cum laude with a degree in resource economics he designed and built a small wooden boat in his back yard as a “sculptural challenge”. This was the seed that launched his wooden boatbuilding career, and ultimately culminated in his position as the general manager of the world renowned wooden boatbuilding yard, Rockport Marine (rockportmarine.com). The boats he has built and restored, sail the globe.
Stephen’s growth as a painter paralleled his work as a builder. His paintings have been exhibited in Midcoast Maine, Connecticut, New York City, and Singapore. His work graces the cover of a rock album as well as the back cover of Wilton Magazine. He has also been featured in Yankee Magazine for the renovation of his 1840s home where his paintings display prominently.
Stephen has found further connection through athletic endeavors such as, soccer, tennis, cycling, jumping rope, trail running, and hiking with his wife and dog. He recently picked up rock’n roll drumming.
Statement
I explore patterns in nature, patterns of harmony and discord both anatomical and behavioral. I notice the layers, the hierarchies, the paradoxes that coexist. These inform my relationship to my own species and to my natural and cultural environments. I see life as a landscape, however abstract, peopled or not, reflecting the dynamics of those relationships. I strive to make my paintings an almost animate reflection of our ecology, and to encourage the same illuminating examination.
I am fascinated by what scientists call “crypsis”—the ability of an organism to avoid observation or detection by other organisms—and how it is used by prey and predator alike. Camouflage is one example with its own cultural connotations. Such hidden objects, intentions and agendas for individual and/or collective survival intrigue me.
As an artist I contend with visibility and invisibility, with being or not being seen, and the concept of longevity, this landscape, this life.
Stephen Florimbi
