When he felt like he was at his lowest, Mark Steinhauser found inspiration in his late mother’s artwork. Though he wasn’t an artist, later in life, he became one and has turned his hardships into art. He will be exhibiting works from his latest series, “Life Cycles,” at the Deep Space Event Center in Parker.
Starting April 12, guests can see the series that touches on concepts of “origin existence” and adapting to the outside world.
“It’s really exploring the universal life stages from an abstract, symbolic perspective,” said Steinhauser.
One of the pieces, “Grounding,” will soon reside in a farmhouse in the south of France that is sponsoring emerging artists from the Royal Academy of Arts. The piece is currently in Zurich, Switzerland, a couple of hours from where Steinhauser was born.
Born in Geneva, Steinhauser grew up overseas with art all around him. His mother studied art in Florence, Italy.
“Most kids go to Disneyland and stuff like that,” said Steinhauser. “I’d be going in these famous art museums.”
While he remembers painting with watercolor as a kid, Steinhauser stepped away from art as he entered adulthood and began working in analytics.
Then, in 2018, Steinhauser’s life was challenged. He suffered a medical emergency where a routine procedure turned into a 10-day hospital stay. Around that time, he felt like the environment at his job was becoming toxic, putting strain on his personal life, unraveling a 30-year-long relationship.
“I had kind of like a trifecta of things happen in my life in a relatively short span of time,” said Steinhauser. “I’ve never been through depression before in my life, and I went through some serious depression.”
While struggling with his mental health, Steinhauser began going through his mother’s artwork and came across old sketches.
“I couldn’t put them away,” said Steinhauser. “It was almost like her communicating with me.”
He began using her tools to create pieces. From that moment, he became obsessed with art.
One of his first pieces won the “Juror’s Choice Award” at the “This Is Colorado” art show sponsored by the Heritage Fine Art Guild at Arapahoe Community College in 2020.
Steinhauser is an active participant in the monthly PACE Center Artist Workshops. There, he met and learned from international artist Tadashi Hayakawa. Steinhauser was even included in Hayakawa’s latest book, “Waku Waku II” and coincided with his exhibition at the Bitfactory Gallery in October.
“It’s great to be an artist and do your own stuff, but this has really profoundly impacted me and my art,” said Steinhauser.
Steinhauser used an organic process when interacting with his media. The initial imprint on a canvas was done with a tea leaf infuser and further embellished with sprayed ink.
Often he thinks about sound and uses the “subtractive synthesis” concept in which sound is taken out of the spectrum to create sonic textures. In his painting, texture is added with different papers and mediums.
Through sharing these universal human themes, Steinhauser hopes the pieces can resonate with people, get them to pause for a moment and spark meaningful dialogue.
“I don’t know what my pieces mean to other people,” said Steinhauser. “But I do know what they mean to me and I kind of like to leave it open to interpretation.”
Steinhauser show at the Deep Space Event Center runs April 12-May 5 at the Deep Space Event Center, 11020 S Pikes Peak Dr #50, Parker.
He is also preparing five works to be submitted to the Bitfactory Gallery on Santa Fe for June and will participate in Parker’s Art in the Parks in August.
