In his work "the moon however," Steve Roden creates a dark, abstract environment using saturated reds, blues, yellows, and greens in sharp contrast to the murky, almost gloomy, atmosphere overtaking the upper half of the scene. Roden’s process involves working with what he describes as “self-invented systems,” through which he translates types of notation (written, musical, cartographic, etc.) into “scores”, scores which ultimately guide the work’s physical manifestation, in this case, as a painting. What results is a hazy, smoke-filled sky hanging above a brightly colored landscape, evocative of light shining through fragments of a stained glass window.
While Roden’s process is derived from a seemingly immutable system, he refuses to conform with it in its entirety, choosing at certain points to diverge and follow his intuition. The lopsidedness of the horizon, the visibly shaky linework, and the smeared, grimy texture of the brushstrokes reveal Roden’s lack of adherence to his own rules. His methods mirror his eclectic artistic practice; not only was he immersed in painting, drawing, and sculpture, but in video, sound, and performance art as well. Roden’s ability to traverse these fields solidifies him as an embodiment of the “artist’s artist.”
Description written by Emiliana Dar Santos, 2026.