Shayam Korey Steckle is primarily a contemporary abstract and landscape painter who works with acrylics. He also works in cut out and collage, watercolour and graphic design. Korey is predominantly a self-taught artist and has recently taken classes at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Guelph School of Art, with the hope of honing and cultivating his craft.

His introduction to the art world began with music. Korey draws inspiration for his art through the accompanying imagery and text regarding the set lists for his mixes going by the name DJ KOUP. These numerous mixes are now located worldwide and serve as an introduction to his artistic style and influence. His first art pieces were cut out and collage for his CD covers. This is a realm he chooses to remain in and continues to push the boundaries and limits of artistic expression.

Korey now also channels his artistic energies into graphic design. Capturing moments of the sublime and serene and manipulating them into new and abstract works of art. His keen eye for detail is influenced by his favorite photographers Sebastio Salgado as well as James Natcheway, William Eggleston and Don McCullin.

Korey was born in the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh on the doorsteps of an orphanage. Adopted at four months old by his Mennonite parents he has always felt that he views the world through two sets of distinctive eyes, one of South Asian ancestry and the other a western influenced mindset. Korey was raised in Kitchener-Waterloo, but has also lived in Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, Nelson, Glace Bay and Kenora to name but a few Canadian locales and is currently residing in Guelph, Ontario.

His paintings are strongly influenced by nature, with a particular focus on the Atlantic Ocean and its many inhabitants. Korey’s art also has been influenced by the thousands of hours he has spent inside the Art Gallery of Ontario studying the vast and influential collections. The artists, musicians, directors and writers whose work has shaped and informed Korey over the years include Jack Kerouac, Ben Watt, Ewan Pearson, DJ Koze, Chris Coco, Rob Da Bank, DJ Pathaan, Bob Dylan, WIlliam S. Burroughs, Patti Smith, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Mapplethorpe, Terrence Malick, Jackson Pollock, Stanley Kubrick, Mike Mills, Spike Jones, Douglas Coupland, Duncan Jones, Julien Schnabel, Edouard Manet, Francisco Goya, and most importantly Jean Michel Basquiat.

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