Stephen McKee was drawn to art as surely as steel to a magnet. Among those who have influenced his work are Cecil King and William Scott. However, Stephen has developed his own striking style. Paradoxically the bright overtones of surrealism are grounded in darker undertones of reality: A boat sinking in a canal lock; the excitement of a moonlight swim in the “Forty Foot”, or the sense of music in the enlarged keyboard in “Ebony Concerto”. What is foremost in these paintings is an extraordinary sense of balance. In “Sallynoggin Flats” it is as if the images are part of a juggling act that has been frozen in time. The perfect symmetry of the hieroglyphics in “Follow” arrests the eye. ‘Using a blend of technique from scumbling to under laid newsprint Stephen creates a mood with texture, balance and colour – you will even find a razor blade embedded in “Flight Path’.

Indeed, many of Stephen’s paintings have that certain edge which gives them their unique character.

Marlene Lyng,
Art Critic, Sunday Tribune
August 2006