ABOUT THE WORK
How do we picture places we cannot see?
My paintings explore how landscapes are observed, mapped and reconstructed, particularly through technologies that make remote and unseen environments visible.
I am drawn to places that are difficult to experience directly - from the depths of the sea to landscapes viewed from above - and to the systems we use to translate them into images. Maps, satellite imagery and remote sensing shape how we understand place, whilst also revealing the limits of what can be seen and known.
My practice developed through an MA in Art and Science at Central Saint Martins, where I researched deep-sea mapping and the technologies used to visualise the ocean floor.
I work primarily in acrylic, alongside constructed surfaces made from fragments of dried paint. Individually placed pieces of acrylic paint skin accumulate into dense, pixellated fields that suggest terrain, maps and satellite imagery. The process mirrors the subject: an image is assembled from fragments of information, gradually becoming something recognisable yet unresolved. Across painting and paint assemblage, I explore the tension between physical landscapes and the structures we create to observe, represent and understand them.
BIOGRAPHY
Steffi Callaghan is a contemporary artist based in North Yorkshire. Her practice brings together painting, geography and scientific approaches to visualising remote environments.
She studied Geography at the University of Manchester before completing an MA in Art and Science with distinction at Central Saint Martins. Her postgraduate research focused on deep-sea mapping and the technologies used to visualise largely unseen environments, which continues to inform her painting practice.
Her work has been exhibited in London and across the UK, including at Saatchi Gallery and Tate Modern. In 2021, she was awarded the Other Art Fair Graduate Art Prize and was a finalist in the Gucci Global Design Graduate Prize. In 2023, she was also a finalist for the SCAF Emerging Artist Prize.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024
‘A Time to Look’, Inspired by Gallery, Danby
2023
‘Emerging Artists 2023’, Lawrence Batley Gallery, Huddersfield
‘Scott Creative Arts Foundation Emerging Art Prize Exhibition’, Thirsk
‘Contemporary Landscapes’, Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield
2022
‘Mercer Open’, Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate
‘Graduate Show’, D31 Gallery, Doncaster
2021
‘London Grads Now 2021’, Saatchi Gallery, London
‘What Have We Done?’, Lethaby Gallery, Central Saint Martins, London
‘Virtual Ground’, Safehouse, London
‘Sale’, Tate Exchange, Tate Modern, London
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
Structure
Cupola Contemporary Art
Sheffield
12 September – 10 October 2026
25th OA Exhibition
Beverley Art Gallery (East Riding Museum)
Beverley
26 September – 17 December 2026
AWARDS
The Other Art Fair Graduate Art Prize 2021 - Winner
Gucci Global Design Awards - Finalist
SCAF Emerging Art Prize - Finalist
EDUCATION
MA in Art and Science, Central Saint Martins, University of Arts
BSc (Hons) Geography, University of Manchester
STUDIO
North Yorkshire