Contributed by Sharon Butler / In September, Two Coats of Paint welcomes Chicago-area painter Anne Hayden Stevens. Her primary endeavor is to examine how we navigate and relate to physical and psychological spaces. How do we claim territory, seek refuge, and forge paths, literally and metaphorically? Her deft brushwork captures the psychological nuance of this exploration, creating surfaces that from a remove present as bold but reveal their fragility up close. Images of shadowed groves seem to offer sanctuary, and tiny, meandering figures speak to one’s often precarious search for a place in the world.
Stevens’ soft, poetic realms draw the viewer in. The effect is light yet pervasive, like the vibe of a room or a vivid reverie. Delicately applied, her paint conjures gentle hills and wispy trees through which her diminutive travelers seem to move intrepidly, their small scale imparting nature’s vastness.
In an essay for Stevens’ upcoming solo show at Slip House (it opens on September 4), Emeline Boehringer aptly writes that the artist’s harmonization of ambient particulars and grand scale recalls Chinese landscape painting, another important reference for Stevens. “The desire to absorb a thousand miles in a single glance, while still capturing acute geological detail, weaves together atmosphere and elaborate structure. The landscape tradition also integrates narrative into topography. Wanderers guide the eye and project moods of contemplation and ascetic escape.”
Stevens works with oil on gessoed panel, protecting her finished paintings with cold wax varnish. She has eliminated turpentine and thinners from her process, instead using artist-grade walnut oil as her medium. The choice reflects a commitment to healthier studio practices, to a cleaner environment, and perhaps, ultimately, to a world more hospitable to the expansive quest that she celebrates in her work.
About the artist:
Anne Hayden Stevens (b. 1967) lives and works outside Chicago. Stevens earned an MA in Visual Studies from the University of California at Berkeley, and a BFA in Printmaking and Drawing from California College of the Arts. Before coming to Illinois, she lived and worked in Seattle, where she taught drawing and digital media at the University of Washington. Her practice includes painting, drawing, artist’s books, and public art. Her work has been exhibited nationally, including at the Rockford Museum, Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, and Bellevue Art Museum in Washington, among other venues. Her work can be found in public collections at Columbia University’s Butler Library, Harvard University’s Houghton Library, Scripps College the University of California at Berkeley, Wellesley College, and elsewhere. Her exhibition at Slip House is her debut New York City solo show.
Anne Hayden Stevens, Two Coats of Paint Artist Residency, 22-19 41st Avenue, 6th Floor, Studio #10, Long Island City, NY. Sept 14 – 19, 2025.
Open Studio: Please join us for an Open Studio on Sunday, September 14, 3-6 pm.. For more information, or to arrange a private studio visit, please contact: [email protected]. Please put ANNE HAYDEN STEVENS in the subject line. Follow Anne and DM her directly on Instagram @annehstevens
Studio listening:
“I have a big eclectic painting playlist on Spotify. In the final stretches of painting for this current exhibition at Slip House, I listened to this Bon Iver playlist on repeat.”
Upcoming shows or events
Anne Hayden Stevens, Slip House, 246 East 5th Street, New York, NY. Opens September 4, 2025.
About the author: Sharon Butler is a painter, the publisher of Two Coats of Paint, and she has directed the Two Coats of Paint Artist Residency since 2016. She has work on view in “What’s That Sound Everybody Look What’s Going Down,” an Artist Invitational at Private Public, 530 Columbia Street, Hudson, NY, September 6 – October 5, 2025.