Originally from Orkney, Steven moved to Aberdeen in 1998 where he attended Gray’s School of Art. He then went onto a Master’s in Fine Art at The Slade School of Art in London and then the British School at Rome. This new series of small works by MacIver were inspired by a recent trip to Scotland. On being awarded the prestigious MacRobert Art Award for Painting by the Royal Scottish Academy, Steven spent time in the highlands and produced a number of small scale paintings on location and on his return to the studio. These paintings are a departure from his usual, structural style and offer a more personal and intimate response to his surroundings.

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Steven's work is inspired by nature, landscape surroundings, both locally and from Scotland. In recent years, Steven became an avid runner and spends hours at a time on the trails and bridleways of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. Routes are repeated, but never the same and as the seasons change, so does the light.

Steven's previous collection was in stark contrast to his organic paintings and were constructed around strict, perspective based principles using geometric shapes and patterns to create layered environments. Whilst the process is very methodical and precise, by applying layer upon layer of semi transparent paint or elaborate networks of line, the resulting works are soft and ethereal. Each shape or line is positioned within a pre-determined perspective framework using vanishing points as a guide, creating the illusion of space and depth.

"As an artist and an ultra marathoner, I spend the majority of my time either in the studio or out running in the countryside. It made sense to me to dovetail these two activities and make one about the other. Time spent training gives me an incredible sense of clarity and the hours per week that I spend running are used to fuel my studio practice".

"Each blank canvas starts with a rough plan. A plan to take the chosen materials and rearrange them in a way that creates a visual language and communicates with the viewer. This series of work is about passing moments in time. Glimpses of relatively obscure or mundane patches of roadside that would otherwise go unnoticed, uncelebrated. Anonymous grid references that catch a fleeting moment of attention by the person who isn’t looking westward at the picturesque sunset, but rather appreciating what’s happening on a more macro scale. The shift in colour as the light changes from blue to gold and the seasonal variations that become evident through repetitive visits to the same patch of land. The Charlbury loop, the Cleeve Hill climb, the Bourton to Burford out and back. Mile upon mile of running the same routes throughout the year and becoming increasingly familiar with each turn and each stretch of trail".

2024 Received the RSA MacRobert Art Award for painting

2012 to date Dillon + Lee Gallery, New York

2008 The Latimer Award, Royal Scottish Academy

2007 Aberdeen Artist Society Shell Award

2004-6 The Sainsbury Scholarship in Painting and Sculpture, British School at Rome

2004 The Guthrie Award, Royal Scottish Academy

2003 The John Murray Thomson Award, Royal Scottish Academy

2002 The W Gordon Smith Award, Royal Scottish Academy