ABOUT

STEPHEN VELASTEGUI (b. 1998, QUEENS, NY) IS A NEW YORK-BASED VISUAL ARTIST WHOSE WORK SPANS THE INTERSECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY, VIDEO, GRAPHIC DESIGN AND STYLING TO DEFINE A TIMID, YET BLUNT SENSE OF PROVOCATION.

STEPHEN’S ARTISTIC JOURNEY BEGAN AT 16, WHEN HE WAS PURSUING AN EDUCATION IN GRAPHIC DESIGN. UPON DISCOVERING IT’S SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH IMAGE MAKING, HIS CURIOSITY LED HIM TO PHOTOGRAPH THE INTRICACIES OF DAILY LIFE AS A NEW YORKER, COMMITTING TO AN INTUITIVE, VERNACULAR APPROACH.

HIS EARLIEST WORKS, MADE BACKSTAGE AT FASHION SHOWS, BASEMENT PARTIES FROM HIS ADOLESCENCE, AND IN TRANSIT ACROSS THE FIVE BOROUGHS, BECAME BOTH AN ARCHIVE & CELEBRATION OF EPHEMERAL MOMENTS THAT CUMULATIVELY BUILT THE FOUNDATION OF HIS VISUAL LANGUAGE.

HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY HIS UPBRINGING IN RIDGEWOOD, QUEENS, STEPHEN’S WORK EMPLOYS AN ARRAY OF MELANCHOLIC MOTIFS TO EXPLORE THE NOTIONS OF INTIMACY, LIMINALITY AND TIME.