A magician of cameraless animation and drawing-on-film animation at Be there! Corfu Animation Festival.FILMS
Free Speech (2012, 0' 20")
Experimental, 35mmA public service announcement. A plea to free jailed, Iranian filmmaker, Jafar Panahi.
Playtime (2009, 2' 44")
Animation, 35mmJock MacDonald painted in both worlds: figurative and the abstract. Playtime pays homage to his dedication, spirit and wonderful subject matter – both real and imaginary.
The Babble On Palms (2002, 4')
Animation, 35mmIndividuality and common experiences in the modern world.
The Curse of the Voodoo Child (2005, 3' 20")
Animation, 35mmThe cycle of sex, birth, fire and childhood. Will my child repeat this cycle, or invent a new one.
Fiesta Brava (2011, 3' 30")
Animation, 35mmThe bull fights are over. Now, the bulls invite you to the world's biggest party.
Chronicle Reconstructions (2008, 3')
Experimental, 35mmA short film about love and loss and the Matabeleland tribe of Southern Rhodesia.
Bru Ha Ha! (2002, 2')
Animation, 35mmBru Ha Ha! is a short hand made 35 mm film that uses paint, emulsion scratches, and dry transfer lettering to represent voices and instrumentation. "Unplanned" as a spontaneous study of inhuman relationships of abstract characters.
1000 Plateaus (2004-2014) (2014, 3' 21")
Animation, 35mmA musical celebration of travel, jazz and road maps, this abstract film was created entirely in the front seat of a car with ink, paint and other simple tools.
SNIP (2004, 1' 30")
Animation, 35mmShards of film fly from the screen with the frenetic sounds of Fats Waller on the piano. In Cinemascope!
Rebuttal (2005, 2')
Animation, Beta SPPenned under the alias Luther Cartier, an abstract "Rebuttal" to J. P. Morton's (a.k.a. Bill Plympton) mock abstract film, "Spiral".
The Rosetta Stone (2010, 5' 23")
Experimental, 35mmAs a young woman reads a newspaper we in turn, read her. Eventually, she submerges into a sea of decay.
The Homestead Act (2009, 8')
Experimental, 35mm28mm and 35mm nitrate film loops are buried in fertile soil with surprising results.
Ditty Dot Comma (2001, 3')
Animation, 35mmDitty Dot Comma is a hand panted, wide screen 35 mm film that honors the relationship between the eye and the ear. The dot and the comma, literary punctuation marks, are also used as symbols and designs.
Casino (2016, 3' 45")
Animation, 35mmA film for my Father who gambled with love.
National Tapestry (2015, 2')
Experimental, 35mm
Created as a silent, large-scale installation for public spaces, National Tapestry draws our focus to the weft and the warp of the woven image.
Changing Evan (2006, 1' 15")
Animation, 35mmI think my daughter is a puzzle. Just when I thought everything was o.k the chicken pox struck...
Minuet (2003, 1')
Animation, Beta SPAn essay in color harmonics and visual overtones. Commissioned by the 2003 Images Film and Video Festival, Toronto.
When the Sun Turns into Juice (2011, 2')
Animation, 35mmThis film, taken from my 4 year-old daughter's metaphor for a sunset, was originally created as an art gallery installation housing a 200-foot long acrylic filmstrip.
Two Eastern Hair Lines (2004, 4')
Animation, 35mmAn Exploration of communication and isolation/east and west.
Animation, 35mmThoughts, visions and reflections from the driver's seat. In Cinemascope.
Frobisher Bay (2012, 2')
Experimentall loop, 35mmRevolving and repeating, Frobisher Bay offers a glimpse into the permanence of nature – in contrast to the transience of man-made ideals and ambitions.
Crossing Victoria (2013, 4')
Experimental, 35 mmTen years ago, I made a treacherous, late night winter journey across an old, Montréal historical landmark. Through the freezing rain, wind and snow, these were the ironclad hallucinations that I encountered on my path.
Pepper Steak (1984, 3')
Animation, 16mmAn essay in multiple composites and textures.
Cameras Take Five (2003, 3')
Animation, 35mmThe enduring romance of the lines. A visual exploration of Dave Brubeck's Jazz Classic, "Take Five." In Cinemascope!
CV
To watch Steven Woloshen's films is, first, to experience the pure pleasure of filmmaking engaged in a virtuoso play with its most basic elements." Chris Gehman
Since the appearance of his first hand-made films in the early nineteen-eighties, Steven Woloshen has produced a body of work which has marked the genre of animated film-making. Often cited as the artistic heir of Norman McLaren and Len Lye, Woloshen's work has been the subject of over a dozen major international retrospectives including events at the London International Animation Festival, Fete de l'Amin in Lille France, the Melbourne Animation Festival, Animateka in Ljubljana, the FICAM Animation Festival in Meknes, Morocco, and in 2014 alone his life's work was honored in Poznan, Poland at the Festival Animator 2014, at the Vermont International Film Festival and at the Montreal International Animation Festival amongst others.
His work has been honored by hundreds of screenings at prestigious festivals such as I Castelli Animati in Rome, the Annecy Animated Film Festival in France, the Holland Animation Film Festival, Film Dresden, the Sommets of Animation in Montreal, the Ottawa International Animation Festival and dozens of others worldwide. In Canada his work has been featured at the Ontario Cinematheque, at the Cinémathèque Québécoise and the Canadian Film Institute among other locales.
Copies of his work currently reside in many permanent collections including those of the Art Institute of Chicago, New Zealand School of Art and Design, Duke University Library, York University and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Pixar Animation Studios.
Woloshen has brought the world a series of explosively joyous and beautiful works as evidenced by the recognition he has received internationally and in Canada including the 2014 award for Best Canadian Animation from the Canadian Screen Institute for 1000 Plateaus, the Artistic Director's award at Etiuda & Anima Festival in Krakow, Poland also for 1000 Plateaus, the Best Abstract Film at the Castelli Animate in 2004 for Cameras Take Five, three honorable mentions for his works at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in 2006, 2010 and again in 2013 and three nominations for the Quebec Screen Award for Best Animation in 2004, 2006 and 2010. In 2011 he received a Special Mention award at the Kurzfilm-Festival in Vienna, and in 2014 he received the Audio Z award for Best Sound at the Prends sa court/RCVQ in Montreal for his composition of the original soundtrack to his recent film, Crossing Victoria. In October of 2015, he received the Prize of the Office of Cultural Affairs for the city of Wiesbaden, Germany for his life achievement and most recently, the Rene Jodoin lifetime achievement award at the 2016 Sommets du cinema d'animation in Montreal, Canada.
Working in the field of direct or cameraless animation, Woloshen creates his film works by direct manipulation of the film stock. Over the span of his career of thirty years he has used a variety of tools, such as brushes, pens, to draw or paint directly on the film surface. Using sharp implements he has etched or scratched the emulsion of the film. In later work, he has also explored various techniques of bio-degradation or of alchemical intervention to degrade or manipulate the film before, during and after development process.
Steven Woloshen retrospective is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts Grants programme.
