Artist statement
Having spent many years as a textile artist, both in Canada and the United Kingdom, I then studied for a BA and Post Graduate Diploma in Fine Art. This study changed my working practice and I now work across different media depending on the concept, the subject matter, the project. My current art practice encompasses site specific art and studio based work. The sited work links issues between art and the environment, art and place, involving the audience to add their reflections about the surroundings. The studio based works can link directly with the installations through artists bookworks, photography and prints (A Sense of Place series), or they can be a separate subject matter such as the Water Series or Identity Series of paintings and works on paper. However within this range of media the work is interlinked in many ways, with concerns about identity of place and personal identity; memories and secrets; disclosure and concealment; reflections, surfaces, layers.
Qualifications and training
- 2004 Post Graduate Diploma Fine Art, University of Plymouth, Exeter
- 2003 Post Graduate Certificate of Education, University of Plymouth, Seale Hayne
- 1999 BA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Plymouth, Exeter
Solo exhibitions
- 2005 'Reflections' at Dartington, Japanese Garden at Dartington Hall, Devon
- 2005 Barbara Steele: Artist's Bookworks, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, Devon
Group exhibitions
- 2010 Six Days of Art, Mallands Barn, Newton Abbot
- 2010 Six Days of Art Launch Exhibition, Rille Estate, Buckfastleigh
- 2009 Ten Artists Walk a Farm, West Town Farm, Ide, Exeter
- 2009 Structure:Time, The Picture House, Exeter
- 2008 TRAIL, Tomorrow's Teignmouth Gallery, Teignmouth
- 2007 Coombe Farm Gallery Christmas Exhibition, Coombe Farm Gallery, Dittisham, Devon
- 2007 Two Devon Artists: Ian and Barbara Steele, Town Mill Galleries, Lyme Regis, Dorset
- 2007 Organic Arts, West Town Farm, Ide, nr Exeter, Devon (more info)
- 2007 devonartworks 2007, Studio of Ian & Barbara Steele, Chudleigh, Devon (more info)
- 2007 The Great Create, National Trust Greenway, Galmpton, Devon
- 2006 Artists' Open Studios: Barbara Steele, Studios of Ian & Barbara Steele, Chudleigh, Devon
- 2006 Forest Dreaming Part 4, Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World, Haldon Forest Park, Exeter, Devon
- 2006 Barbara Steele: Paintings & Works on Paper, Camelford Gallery, Camelford, Cornwall
- 2006 Embodiments, Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, Somerset
- 2005 Embodiments, Bridport Arts Centre, Bridport, Dorset
- 2005 Bound/Unbound, Dartington Art Gallery, Devon
- 2004 Reflections at St Pancras, St Pancras Church for Exeter Autumn Festival, Exeter, Devon
- 2004 Response to Eden, Eden Project, Cornwall
- 2004 Response to Eden, Exeter Phoenix, Exeter
- 2004 Diversity, Bridgwater Arts Centre, Bridgwater, Somerset
- 2003 Reflections at Rocombe, Open Studios at Rocombe Farm, Devon
- 2002 Responses at Brimblecombe, Brimblecombe Cider Farm for Nine Days of Art, Devon
Projects
- 2002 Educational Outreach Projects, Spacex Gallery, Exeter
Personal website
