Monika Steiner

Monika Steiner (born 1972) is an artist and sculptor that lives in Fairfax, California.

Monika Steiner
Born1972
Gysenstein, Switzerland
NationalitySwiss
EducationUniversity of Bern, Sonoma State University
Known forPainting, Sculpture
MovementAbstract art

Personal life

Monika Steiner was born in 1972 in Gysenstein, Switzerland. She earned a Bachelor of Arts and Teaching Credential at the University of Bern, and became a teacher at Bönigen elementary school, where she incorporated art into her classroom. In 2000 Steiner moved to the United States where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Sonoma State University. She currently splits her time between northern California and Bern. Her art at this time dealt with her internal struggles, such as the difficulty of experiencing and adapting to culture shock.[1][2]

Career

The December 2006 showing of 11 pieces at the Bank of America Center in San Francisco, CA (since renamed 555 California Street), called Confluence, was influential in launching her art career.[3][4]

In 2008 she held an exhibition at the Dorfmusem Bönigen. She had originally taught in this town as a schoolteacher.

As an abstract artist, Steiner describes her work as an outward expression of her innermost thoughts and feelings, a tangible expression of personal memories, situations, moments and feelings. "I am attracted to spheres because they are nature's most perfect shape - requiring the least amount of structure to enclose the greatest possible volume. I am amazed by their ability to conjure entities as massive as planets or as small as subatomic particles."[5]

Rather than traditional canvas, Steiner prefers birchwood platforms prepared with rabbit-skin glue for its hard, smooth surface. In addition to painting, Steiner sculpts in bronze, engaging in the ancient lost-wax casting process integral to working with the medium.

In 2011 Steiner was invited to speak at TEDx Silicon Valley at Stanford University.[6]

Infinity Sculpture
Theia by Monika Steiner

Major collections

Major collections of Steiner's artwork are held by the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art in San Luis Obispo, California and the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest, California, as well as by the Ashlyn Dyer Foundation, and the Dorfmusem Bönigen.

Selected Solo & Group Exhibitions

2013
  • Anne Reed Gallery. The Timeless. (June 25-August 26, 2013).[7]

2012
  • Triton Museum of Art 2011 Statewide Painting Competition/Exhibition – Honorable mention
  • San Luis Obispo Museum of Art The Fifth Dimension San Luis Obispo, California[8]
  • Seattle Art Museum gallery, Journeys Seattle, Washington

2011
  • Janine Bean Gallery, Two Person Exhibit, Berlin, Germany
  • San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo, California, "California Sculpture SLAM"
  • Turtle Bay Exploration Park, Redding, California, "West Coast Biennial"
  • Sylvia White gallery, Ventura, California, "Annual Juried Show"
  • San Francisco General Hospital, Heroes and Hearts
  • Muse Gallery, Columbus, Ohio - Correlations

2010
  • Apotheki Gallery, Paros, Greece - Intangible Reflections; artist in residence
  • Seattle Art Museum Gallery (SAM), Seattle, Washington - "Summer Introductions"
  • Micaëla Gallery, San Francisco, California - B. Feldman, M. Steiner, N. Otto

2009
  • Maturango Museum, Ridgecrest, California - Equinox
  • Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco, San Francisco, California - Lucid
  • Merced Multicultural Arts Center, California - The Space Between Thoughts[21]

2008
  • Dorfmusem Bönigen Bönigen, Switzerland - Return

2007
  • Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Marin, California - Traces

2006
  • Bank of America Center, Plaza Gallery, San Francisco, California - Confluence, Curator Jan Casey

2005
  • Swissnex, Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco, San Francisco, California - Transformation

References
  1. Containers of Information, the Art of SF Art News
  2. Changing Paths Argus Courier, retrieved Nov 15, 2006
  3. Bay Area Francophile This Week Sonoma.edu, retrieved Dec 21, 2006
  4. Changing Paths Argus Courier, retrieved Nov 15, 2006
  5. Monika Steiner: Theia Marin Magazine, retrieved May 2013
  6. TedX Silicon Valley: Monika Steiner
  7. The Timeless exhibition Anne Reed Gallery
  8. Monika Steiner: The Fifth Element San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, retrieved 9 Mar 2012
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