About the Artist

R. Justin Stewart’s work explores the interplay between material, system, and perception. He often works with felt, a medium that is paradoxically both soft and hard, using it as a central element in his practice. Through carefully designed systems, he generates emergent patterns whose visual appearance resists immediate comprehension. These patterns invite viewers into a state of curiosity, echoing the experience of encountering complex systems in the world—forces that quietly shape our lives yet remain largely invisible.

Throughout his career, Stewart has examined how information is translated through unfamiliar visual frameworks, sometimes making it more accessible, other times more opaque. He is deeply interested in the ways cultural systems determine not only what we see, but also how we understand it. The gaps and dissonances that arise from different modes of presentation reveal, in his work, the necessity of historical, social, and contextual investigation to make sense of the world we inhabit.

In his most recent projects, the act of creating a pattern functions as both a formal and conceptual gesture. It alludes to the hidden algorithms and structures that influence our perceptions and experiences. By engaging with these processes, Stewart highlights the subtle forces that shape how we interpret our shared realities.

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