Artist Statement
Finding and collecting curiosities in thrift stores and junkyards is a lifelong preoccupation and a passionate experience for me, rather like going to church. Three or four times a month I visit one of Tucson's four junkyards. I walk around alone, looking at the forlorn piles of bent, twisted and rusted metal lying all over the place. Now things start to happen very fast; everywhere I look I begin to see metal transformed into finished sculptures.
Most of my sculptures are conceived right there in the scrap metal yards where I find both the vision and the ingredients for my work. I just see a piece of metal and immediately imagine the completed sculpture it suggests. Most of the time, during one visit I am able to locate all of the actual metal parts that will be necessary to complete many sculptures, but occasionally an exciting piece of rusted metal will languish in my studio yard for months, waiting for the day I will find the piece or pieces that are missing.
I like the immediacy of welding; it is glue that sets up rapidly, in seconds. This makes metal become either plastic or rigid. But I never bend or cut the metal I use. This self-imposed limitation forces me to respond to the object as it actually is. My art lies in the assemblage, not the cutting and shaping of its individual parts.
I like my work to remain unfinished, even when I have carried out my initial vision for it. I resist signing the work for this reason. If it remains unsigned, it is a piece in process, and more things can continue to happen to transform it after it is sold.
Co-incidentally I hate to say goodbye either to my work or to people. The work and human relationships always have the potential for new life, and more redemption. I always expect that.
Making art allows me to have a spiritual and a psychological life without being directly involved in any theology or ideology. Through art I can engage my life deeply, and can impact other people's lives through how they experience my work.
The Catholic Apostle Jude is a figure of special significance to me, and to my work. The patron saint of a small Tarahumara Indian village in Mexico, his life was the manifestation of betrayal and redemption, twin themes that are central to my own experience.
When I discard something, I betray it. When I find it, conceive a vision of it renewed, and make art from it, I redeem it. All objects have the potential to be redeemed through art, to be transformed through human vision. So do all people. If a person were to be discarded like a piece of rusted steel, it would be a profound experience. But if it happens to an object, everyone takes it to be insignificant. I can't accept that. Art makes my own personal redemption possible.
Steven G. Derks
Education
2010 Creative Capital Career Development
1996 Tucson Museum of Art Mentor Program
1994 Desert Crucible-Tucson
1994 Arizona Internship
1993 Tucson Museum of Art-Art Training Workshops
1992 Arizona Commission of the Arts-Arts Business Training
1979 Pima Community College-Arts
Group Exhibitions
2016 Alexander Salazar Gallery San Diego CA
White Box Gallery San Diego CA
Shidoni Gallery Santa Fe NM
Phillips Gallery Salt Lake City UT
Gallery 801 Tucson AZ
SCAA Sergott Contemporary Art Alliance Rancho Santa Fe CA
Etherton Gallery / Temple Tucson AZ
Sotheby’s International Tucson AZ
Biosphere 2 , Oracle, AZ
Vantana Systems / SACA Tucson
Tucson JCC Sculpture Show Tucson AZ
Coda Gallery Palm Desert CA
2015 Alexander Salazar Gallery San Diego CA
White Box Gallery San Diego CA
Shidoni Gallery Santa Fe NM
Phillips Gallery Salt Lake City UT
Gallery 801 Tucson AZ
SCAA Sergott Contemporary Art Alliance Rancho Santa Fe CA
LGOCA Gallery Laguna Beach CA
Sotheby’s International Tucson AZ
Biosphere 2 , Oracle, AZ
Coda Gallery Palm Desert CA
2014 LGOCA Gallery Laguna Beach CA
RBC Wealth Management, Tucson AZ.
Shidoni Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
Noel Baza Gallery , San Diego ,CA.
Gallery 801, Tucson AZ.
Flux Gallery , Tucson, AZ
Biosphere 2 , Oracle, AZ
James Ratliff Gallery, Sedona AZ.
Sotheby’s International Tucson AZ
Tucson Museum of Art Crush Show, Tucson AZ
2013 LGOCA Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA.
RBC Wealth Management, Tucson AZ.
Shidoni Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
Noel Baza Gallery , San Diego ,CA.
Gallery 801, Tucson AZ.
Flux Gallery , Tucson, AZ
Biosphere 2 , Oracle, AZ
James Ratliff Gallery, Sedona AZ.
Sotheby’s International Reality Tucson AZ
Tucson Museum of Art Crush Show, Tucson AZ
2012 LGOCA Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA.
RBC Wealth Management, Tucson AZ.
Shidoni Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Noel Baza Gallery , San Diego ,CA.
Gallery 801, Tucson AZ
Flux Gallery , Tucson, AZ
Biosphere 2 , Oracle, AZ
James Ratliff Gallery, Sedona AZ.
Sotheby’s International Reality Tucson AZ
Tucson Museum of Art Crush Show, Tucson AZ
2011 Shidoni Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
Noel Baza Gallery , San Diego ,CA.
Coda Gallery, Palm Desert ,CA.
Biosphere 2, Oracle AZ.
Gallery 801, Tucson AZ.
Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery, Tucson AZ
Flux Gallery , Tucson, AZ
JCC Gallery, Tucson, AZ.
Tucson Museum of Art Crush Show, Tucson AZ
Loveland Sculpture Show, Loveland,CO.
James Ratliff Gallery, Sedona, AZ.
Sotheby’s International Reality Tucson AZ
Etherton Temple Gallery, Tucson, AZ.
2010 Shidoni Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
Noel Baza Gallery , San Diego ,CA.
Coda Gallery, Palm Desert ,CA.
Gallery 801, Tucson AZ.
Phoenix Gallery, Park CitY, UT.
Tangerine Gallery, Tucson AZ.
Jane Hamilton Gallery, Bisbee, AZ.
Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery, Tucson AZ
Tucson Museum of Art Crush Show, Tucson AZ
Flux Gallery , Tucson, AZ
Sotheby’s International Reality Tucson AZ
2009 Flux Gallery , Tucson, AZ
Shidoni Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
Noel Baza Gallery , San Diego ,CA.
Coda Gallery, Palm Desert ,CA.
Gallery 801, Tucson AZ.
Phoenix Gallery, Park CitY, UT.
Tangerine Gallery, Tucson AZ.
Jane Hamilton Gallery, Bisbee, AZ.
Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery, Tucson AZ.
Tucson Museum of Art Crush Show, Tucson AZ
2008 Phoenix Gallery , Park City UT.
Shidoni Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Tangerine Gallery, Tucson, AZ.
Grogan Gallery, Tucson, AZ.
Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA.
Twist Gallery, Bisbee, AZ.
Trios Gallery, Solana Beach, CA.
Gallery 801, Tucson, AZ.
Hacienda Del Sol, Tucson, AZ
2007 Shidoni Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
Gallery 801, Tucson, AZ
Tangerine Gallery, Tucson, AZ.
Grogan Gallery, Tucson, AZ.
Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA.
Arte-Misa Gallery, Sedona, AZ.
Treos Gallery, Solana Beach, CA.
Adorn Gallery, San Diego, CA.
Twist Gallery, Bisbee, AZ.
Liz Hernandez Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
2006 Shidoni Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Grogan Gallery, Tucson, AZ.
Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA.
Trios Gallery, Solana Beach, CA.
Adorn Gallery, San Diego, CA.
2005 Shidoni Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Liz Hernandez Gallery, Tucson, AZ.
Art House, Silver City, NM
Gallery Urbane, Silver City, NM
Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA.
2004 Shidoni Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Gallery Urbane, Silver City, NM
Liz Hernandez Gallery, Tucson, AZ
Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA.
Hacienda Del Sol, Tucson, AZ
Tupolo Rd. Gallery, Taos, NM
2003 Shidoni, Santa Fe, NM
Redeemed Art Gallery, Tucson, AZ
Dinnerware, Tucson, AZ
Gallery Urbane, Silver City, NM
2002 Dinnerware, Tucson, AZ
Gallery Urbane, Silver City, NM
Redeemed Art Gallery, Tucson, AZ
Shidoni Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2001 3Falk Gallery, Tubac, AZ
Shidoni, Santa Fe, NM
Dinnerware, Tucson, AZ
Lanning Gallery, Sedona, AZ
2000 Moxley Ross, Santa Fe NM
Obsidian Gallery, Tucson, AZ
Dinnerware, Tucson, AZ
Lanning Gallery, Sedona, AZ
1999 Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
The Select Art Gallery, Sedona, AZ
D.C. Harris Gallery, Tucson, AZ
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Tohono Chul Gallery, Tucson, AZ
Phantom B. of A., Tucson AZ
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Apparatus Gallery, Tucson, AZ
1998 Phantom B. of A.,
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Apparatus Gallery, Tucson, AZ
D.C. Harris Gallery, Tucson, AZ
Dallas Market Center, Dallas, TX
The Select Art Gallery, Sedona, AZ
1997 The Select Art Gallery, Sedona, AZ.
1996 Apparatus Gallery, Tucson, AZ
Debra Hudgens Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ.
Susanne Brown Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Karen Newby Gallery, Tubac, AZ.
1994 Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Susanne Brown Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Feathers Gallery, La Jolla CA.
Feathers Gallery, Scottsdale
1993 Expo Chango, Tucson, AZ
Presden Gallery, Santa Fe NM.
Susanne Brown Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Feathers Gallery, La Jolla CA.
Feathers Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
1991 Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Karen Newby Gallery, Tubac, AZ
Feathers Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Feathers Gallery, La Jolla CA.
Feathers Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
1990 Sun West Gallery, Prescott, AZ
Rosenquest Gallery Scottsdale AZ
Selected Publications and
Articles
Arizona Daily Star
Arizona Illustrated News Magazine
Art in America
Art Life
Art Now Gallery Guide
Art Talk
Compendium Magazine
Desert Leaf
Gallery Guide
Lux Magazine Arizona Edition
New York Times
New Mexico Magazine
Oracle Magazine
Phoenix Home & Garden
Sedona Magazine
Southwest Art Magazine
Southwest Profile Magazine
Sunset Magazine
The Magazine
The Santa Fean
Tucson Citizen
Tucson Guide
Tucson Weekly
Tucson Home
Tucson Lifestyle Magazine
Corporate Collections
Bed Mart Tucson AZ
Shear Financial Services, Dayton, OH.
Jewish Community Center,Tucson.AZ
KPMG International
AMCEP Metals, Steven Kipper, Tucson, Az.
American Heart Association, Tucson, AZ.
Beyond Bread, Tucson, AZ
Big Brothers Big Sisters, Tucson, AZ
Café Terra Cotta, Tucson, AZ
Caterpillar Corp. Memorial, Tucson, AZ
Davis Bilingual School, Tucson, AZ
DeGrazia Foundation, Tucson, AZ
Dell Webb, Tucson, AZ
Gallery Golf Resort, Marana, AZ
Hacienda Del Sol Resort, Tucson, AZ
Mertis, Scottsdale, AZ
Microsoft, Seattle, WA
P.A.C.T. for Life, Tucson, AZ
Phantom Project, Bank of America, Tucson, AZ
Print Expressions Inc., Tucson, AZ
R.A.S., Tucson, AZ
Regal Company, Inc., Sonora, Mexico
Sterling Institute of Men’s Studies, Oakland, CA
Streich Lang, Tucson, AZ
Switch and Data, Tucson, AZ
Tucson Art District Partnership, Tucson, AZ
Tucson Botanical Gardens, Tucson, AZ
Triumph Builders, Tucson, AZ
Boran Properties, Tucson, AZ
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
UMC Cancer Center, Tucson AZ
President Bill Clinton, The White House, Oval Office,
Washington, DC
Mercury Records, Nashville, TN
Honorarium & Awards
1999 University of Arizona
2000 Deer Valley Airport
2003 Community Foundation
2002 Tucson Arts District Partnership Artist of The Year
2003 Arizona Governor’s Arts Award
2008 Artist in Residence Biosphere II, Oracle, AZ.
2011 Tucson Pima Arts Council
2012 Tucson Pima Arts Council
Private Collections
Anderson, Andy, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Boswell, Don, Collector, Tucson, AZ.
Brunner, Pricella & Keith Tucson / Nashville / Dayton
Broan, Joyce, Collector, Tucson, AZ.
Brown, Thomas, Architect
Chambers, Susan, Tucson, AZ
Beech, Lee, Dean University of Arizona
Cheik, Sao, Collector, Seattle Wa.
Christensen, Karen, Tucson, AZ.
Collier, Roger Attorney at Law & Carol, Tucson, AZ
Coris, Len and Doris, Collectors, Tucson, AZ.
Dantzler Bill, Barbara, Tucson AZ
Dashew, Linda & Skip, Tucson, AZ
De’ Augostino, Judith, Artist, Tucson, AZ.
Drachman, Lorraine, Tucson, AZ.
Dudley, John & Diane, Creative Endeavors Fine Art, Rockwell, TX
Eglin, Evan, Santa Fe, NM & Tucson, AZ
Fishman, Norm, Collector, Tucson, AZ
Frank, David, Collector, Santa Fe, NM
Frank, Elizabeth, Artist, Tucson, AZ.
Gardner, Nancy & Kirkland, Tucson, AZ
Gerard, Don and Eugenia, Collectors, Tucson, AZ./San Diego, Ca.
Gilley, Ron and Mary, Collectors, Durango CO.
Goldman, Lucy, Collector, San Diego, Ca.
Gorriarena, Carlos, Zaragoza, Spain
Guerrero, Louis, Guadalajara, Mexico
Hancock, Jory and Melissa, DeanU of Arizona School of Arts, University of Arizona
Hernandez, Liz, Collector, Scottsdale, AZ.
Hilger, Ludwig, Frankfurt, Germany
Himelic, Ana, Collector, San Diego, Ca.
Hilton, Lee and Peggy, Collectors, Tucson, AZ.
Johnson, Peggy, Loft Theater, Tucson, AZ,
Kidd, Billy, Collector, Tucson, AZ.
Krzyzawski, Stan, Collector, Tucson, AZ.`
Lace, Steve and Sue, Collectors, Tucson, AZ.
Lanning, Peggy, Owner, Lanning Gallery, Sedona AZ
Laria, Don, Café Terra Cotta, President Tucson Museum of Art
Lawerence, Taylor President Rayotheion
Lehrer, Cy, Attorney at Law, Tucson, AZ.
Litvack, Elaine and Jules, Collectors, Tucson, AZ.
Marcus, Angelo, Eagle Arts, La Jolla, CA
Miller, John Wesley, Collector, Tucson, AZ.
Miller, Tom and Barbara, Collector’s San Diego, Ca.
Molotsky, Barbara, Collector, Tucson, AZ.
Morillo, Luptia, KVOA, Reporter
Murry, Steve and Maxine, Collectors, Tucson, AZ.
Nathensen, Jerry & Thelma, Tucson, AZ
Nelson, Linda & Stewart, Tucson, AZ
Neyraud, Anne & Jean Paul, La Fouillouse, France
Oliver, Samual, London, England
Pan, Solomon and Rose, Architect, Tucson, AZ.
Palmer,John & Farah Tucson / Cincinnati
Pashkow, David and Cookie, Collectors, Tucson, AZ.
Pergam, Carl & Jeannette, Vancouver, Canada
Powell, Andrew, Ottawa, Canada
Pray, James, Collector, Tucson, AZ.
Ritter, Mel, President Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Redford, Robert, Sundance, UT
Robinson, Linda, Robinson Shades, Tucson, AZ
Rosenquist, Charles & Peg, , Tucson, AZ
Rubin, Rochelle, Rochelle Rubin Design, Tucson, AZ
Ryan, Pam and Randy, Collectors, Tucson, AZ
Sabbagh, Adib Dr. and Vivi, Collectors, Tucson, AZ.
Schaefer, John & Helen, President University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Schop, Derek, DMD, Collector, Tucson, AZ.
Scheerer, Susan Tucson / Portland OR.
Seaver, Douglas, Architect, Tucson, AZ
Sevigny, Maurice, Dean University of Arizona Art School
Shorr, Cye, Attorney at Law, Tucson, AZ.
Skidmore, David, Collector, Tucson, AZ.
Slavin, Marjorie, Collector, Tucson, AZ.
Soloway, Rick, Architect
Sosnow, Dr. Rick and Phyllis, Collectors, Tucson, AZ.
Spitzer, Eric C.P.A. Tucson, AZ.
Spivac, Rica & Harvey, President Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Sternberg, Mitch, Tucson, AZ
Su-Wen, Chang, DDS, Tucson, AZ
Timan, Jeff, Collector, Tucson, AZ.
Wagner, Karen & Ron, Dallas, TX
Wells John, Tucson, AZ
Wetterscheider, Larry, Tucson, AZ
Williams, Owen, Collector, Tucson, AZ.
Wooten, Mary Ellen, Collector, Tucson, AZ.
# 1 I learned the mass in latin then had to relearn it in english the next year. I still hold a resentment.
# 2 Most Sundays; as a young kid I would suck wine thru a garden hose from an oak barrel.
# 3 Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band became my new religion that summer.
# 4 I saved $8,000.00 while working as a busboy, hoping to buy a farm after high school. I realized that it was beyond my means so I bought a house instead. I still want to be a farmer when I grow up.
# 5 I hitchhiked halfway across the country to visit my dying grandfather. I was 15 years old and it was worth the humiliation of every car that passed me by.
# 6 On the Navajo reservation I lived for a year in a log and mud hogan, with an English sheep dog, and a mohair goat. At first I missed electricity but soon learned that living without running water or plumbing was a greater necessity.
# 7 I worked for ten years enforcing the endangered plant laws and antiquities protection laws in southern Arizona. ( Cactus Cop )
# 8 I'm terribly allergic to cats and horses.
# 9 It's almost 25 years since I had a drink or a drug. My daughter and most of my friends have never seen me under the influence. I pray to keep it that way.
# 10 I used to say that unconditional love was a myth. Being a single parent raising an incredible daughter by myself has taught me otherwise.
# 11 I sold my first work of art to a man who made his fortune selling bras.
# 12I sold a painting that President Clinton Kept in the Oval office for 7 years.
# 13 I want to see Prague & Istanbul before I die.
# 14 I have lived in an intentional community for 20 years. We used to be hippies.
# 15 I played volleyball with James Hillman the author of Re-visioning Psychology.
# 16 My spanish is pretty good I wish it was much better.
# 17 I need to make art.
# 18 I designed and built my own house. It was beautiful. Selling it was the death of a dream. I'm glad I did it now.
# 19 I enjoy poetry slams.
# 20 I'm powerless over Mac Stuff and my life is unmanageable.
# 21 I'm still afraid of nuns.
# 22 I was roommates with James Turrell for a week when I was 18 years old. I didn't Know he was famous. He drank all my of carrot juice.
# 23 My best friend and mentor has Parkinson's .
# 24 I wish I had the faith to practice a religion.