About Stephen
"Emerging as a fusion of intellectual rigor, relentless curiosity, and process-driven creativity, my projects are rooted in the senses. They invite participants to delve into endogenous and synesthetic realms, enriching and expanding the potential sensation of human experience. Always aiming to transcend boundaries, they abide and return us to our senses."
Stephen Auger has worked as a visual artist and color and perception theorist for over four decades. He was trained at the Center of Advanced Visual Studies at MIT. Stephen has collaborated with renowned printmakers, curators, textile and fashion designers, architects, and dance companies such as Norman Lassiter, Edwin H. Land, Gene Moore, Jack Lenor Larsen, Carolina Herrera, The Paul Taylor Dance Company, Steve Paxton, George Stavropolous, The Metropolitan Opera, and others. His paintings were featured twice in the famed NYC Tiffany windows. His installations, paintings, and sculptures are in private, corporate, and museum collections internationally, including Yale University, Fitchburg Art Museum, Museum of Northern Arizona, Andrew Lloyd Weber, Malcolm Forbes, CBS Corporation, Panasonic Corp (Japan), The Carnegie Institute of Science, The Santa Fe Institute, Andrea Soros Colombel, among many others.
Stephen is involved with ongoing collaborative curatorial, teaching, research and art projects. He lives and works in Santa Monica, California, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Artist Statement
"Paul Klee once said, 'Art does not reproduce the visible; it makes things visible.' Since the 1970s, I have been dedicated to extending and clarifying the experience of perceptual color. Through ongoing research and the creation of immersive experience and art works, I have delved into the limits of visual perception and the synergistic relationships of the perceptual primary colors: red, green, violet, and blue.
By juxtaposing and layering red, green, violet, and blue—precisely tuned to the spectral sensitivity of the pigments within the rods, cones, and ganglion cells of the retina—my work evokes a vast array of distinctive endogenous and exogenous color sensations within the visual brain.
A central theme in contemporary color theory, as presented by figures like Johannes Itten, and Josef Albers, is the dynamic interaction of colors. While the additive color theory of light, which involves the interaction of red, green, violet, and blue light, has been thoroughly explored, its counterpart in luminous media, known as optical mixing, has yet to be fully understood, explained, or adopted by designers, technologists and artists. Movements in modern art, such as the Divisionists, the Bauhaus, and the Op Art movements, have shown a keen interest in the optical interaction of colors. The Divisionists, including Georges Seurat, attempted to employ optical mixing but were hindered by the limitations of Michel Eugène Chevreul's color theory, which incorrectly identified red, yellow, and blue as the primary 'optical' colors, and by the nascent work of Edwin D. Babbitt in chromotherapy.
Despite their remarkable efforts and the brilliance of their art, these artists and technologists operated with an incomplete scientific understanding of color perception. Ironically, a more accurate theory was available but not widely accepted at the time. The Young & Helmholtz theory of trichromatic color vision, supported by James Clerk Maxwell's experimental work, correctly identified red, green, and blue as the primary colors of human visual perception.
Op artists, inspired by additive color theory, placed colors in opposition to create dynamic color tension, often employing pixilated displays and imagery. However, the subtleties and modulations of this phenomenon remained elusive. Artists from the Bauhaus, Op, and Minimalist movements, such as Josef Albers, Victor Vasarely, Julian Stanczak, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Ellsworth Kelly, Gene Davis, Leo Villareal, and others, incorporated additive primaries in their work but did not fully integrate their artistic endeavors with a comprehensive understanding of the human visual system or the science behind it. Optical mixing continues to be an intriguing and largely unexplored domain ripe for discovery and innovation.
Color frequencies not only allow us to perceive the world with greater precision, but they also create endogenous and exogenous qualities that would not exist without them. This perspective on the phenomenology of the perceived world and the mind of perception highlights just one facet of our diminishing visual experience, which is being eroded by technology and the loss of embodied sensory experience. My aim is to reawaken humanity, both individually and collectively to their senses by enriching the sensory experience of art, design, and technology for the betterment of society.
Two pivotal projects that have profoundly shaped my career in art, innovation, and expanded consciousness are The IRIS Installation, showcased at The Santa Fe Institute's inaugural 2018 "Interplanetary Festival," and my inaugural major gallery exhibition, "Luminance," featured in the Tiffany Windows and the Arras in New York City back in 1981. These accomplishments hold immense pride for me, and their impact resonates across various dimensions. The IRIS Installation allowed me to push the boundaries of sensory experiences and innovation, leaving a lasting impression on participants. By creating a space where thousands of individuals of all ages could immerse themselves in mind-expanding sensory-healing experiences, I not only achieved my creative vision but also expanded my reach and influence in the art and innovation spheres. It served as the kernel technology for INTO Technologies, Inc. and is a testament to my commitment to integrating art, technology, and well-being. Similarly, "Luminance" in 1981 was a groundbreaking moment in my career, marking my entry into the art scene. This gallery exhibition in New York City exposed a wider audience to my creative vision and innovative approach. The inclusion of the Tiffany Windows and the Arras showcased my ability to blend advanced neuro-perceptive concepts within the continuum of painting and printmaking; resonating with participants and establishing a foundation for future projects. These projects set the foundation of my interdisciplinary vision and continue to shape my journey today.
“𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳—𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯—𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭, 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.”