Hello, I'm Steve Socha.
I create art for people who want to see things differently. I help them find a new perspective on people, places, and objects, by bringing a sense of wonder into their lives. I am an award-winning artist that has exhibited in Toronto, Los Angeles, and Brooklyn, and I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
I use an overlay technique to represent a different vantage point on the built environment, one that merges multiple instances of the same object, incorporating the element of time. The images seem to find the average, mean, or essence of the subject, by emphasizing only the repetitive elements. Using more than 30 layers in each image, I aim to capture an icon in the way people's memory works - a collection of various fleeting images recalled as one. The result displays a different way of viewing objects and scenes, one that incorporates the element of time and motion.
I have had several large-scale displays of my art at street level in downtown Toronto, done through the PATCH Project (Public Art Through Construction Hoarding).
My Grand Central Terminal Piece was placed in the special Moleskine sketchbook for the Centennial of the Terminal. It was also in the Brooklyn Transit Museum.
When I'm not busy creating overlay art, I can be found
- at my full-time day job as an architect
- creating pet portraits for my other art business: Pet Portraits Toronto
- throwing axes at targets every Tuesday night at BATL – Backyard Axe throwing League
- playing guitar, ukulele, or whatever else I can get my hands on
- swimming back and forth
- hanging out with my wife and our Norwegian Forest Cat, Rodney
I create videos of most of my art pieces, which you can see on my Youtube Channel
Awards
Panel Discussion | Experimental Cinematography | Sept 2020 Video Feature | Toronto Society of Architects September Playlist | Sept 2020 Exhibition | Blue Crow Gallery Summer Group Show | July 2020 Exhibition | Blue Crow Gallery Summer Group Show | July 2019 Exhibition | The Sex Show at Gallery 1313, Toronto | February 2019 Award | The ArtList Second Place Artist of the Month | November 2018 Exhibition | Daylighted Gallery Screens, various locations | November 2018 - present Exhibition | Saatchi Art gallery screen, London | January 2018 - present Finalist | ArtApp Artist Contest | November 2017 Finalist | To Death With a Smile Competition | November 2017 Publication | InfiniteMagazine | October 2017 Publication | Not Random Art Magazine | June 2017 Winner | Hii Photography Awards - Best of the Best Mono | March 2017 Exhibition | Now and Then: The Selby Hotel | The PATCH Project | 2016 Published | K-OODI Magazine, Issue 4 | March, 2016 Exhibition | Alter Condo @ 355 Church Street, Toronto | The PATCH Project| 2015-2016 Exhibition | The Black Cat Juried Exhibition Opening | Gladstone Hotel | April 2015 Honourable Mention | Neutral Density Photography Awards | 2014 Honourable Mention | Morpholio Eyetime Competition | 2014 Published | 43mm Issue 4 | TZIPAC: International Art & Photography Community | June 2014 Finalist | Zebra Awards for Black and White Photography | April 2014 Exhibition | The New York Transit Museum | June 2013 to December 2013 Honourable Mention | Morpholio Eyetime Competition | 2013 Honourable Mention | Light, Space, & Time Open Art Competition | 2013 Artist Roster | The PATCH Project: Public Art Through Construction Hoarding | 2013 to present Winner | Grand Central Terminal Sketchbook Competition | Published Nov. 2012