Performance Arts
Performance arts explore the intersection of physical movement and emotional expression. The artist sees the body as a dynamic medium, transcending the limitations of a flat canvas. The performances feature moving sculptures inviting the viewer to experience the raw power and fluidity of the human form.
Color Emotions
Colour Emotions in Solo Performance
The solo expression of five emotions—joy, fear, sadness, anger, and strength—reinterprets the symbolic meanings of colours through story and action.
The obscured facial expressions enhance the focus on body language and movement intensifying the emotional impact.
Choreography/costume design/Performer: Quan Steele
Original music by photographer/performer: Peter Dusek
Video: Bob Steele
Colour Emotions in Group Performance
5 artists and a flag
Five artists from diverse fields in a theatrical work where their bodies serve as brushes, their costumes embody the hues of paint, and the stage becomes both palette and canvas. The five colours fabrics reinterpreted into five emotions such as happiness, fear, sadness, anger and strength as symbols of hope, care, kindness, forgiveness, and acceptance. Through movement and the rhythm of music, the piece evolves into a living narrative, delving into themes of self-awareness and resilience.
The colour choice was inspired by the colours of the OSA logo and my Asian heritage, where each colour represents a meaning.
Event: OSA 150th Anniversary Opening Reception
Location: on the stage of Arts and Letters Club, 2022.
Choreography/costume design/performer: Quan Steele
Original music/photographer/Performer: Peter Dusek
Visual artist/performer: Margaret Stawicki
Printmaker/visual artist/performer: Bev Fennel
Poet/author/performer: Vivian Luu
Regenerative Forest and Emerging Seedling
Regenerated Forest on-site installation transforms a green cloth of over 250 handmade trees into a dense forest canopy. Symbolizes the return of a future forest after deforestation.
Emerging Seedling live performance symbolizes the return of seedlings after a clearcut, asking viewers to witness the growth of seed to tree. This immersive experience embodies rebirth, exploring transformation, movement and repetition.
Event : Clear Cut-Reanimated Project
Organized : Broken Forest Eco Arts Group.
Location Installation and performance : clearcut patch near Jordan River, Vancouver Island 2024
Materials: Non ripping Nylon fabric, marker drawing, incense burned hole.
260 x 270 x 25 cm.
Choreography/costume design/performer: Quan Steele
Music: curator/musician/artist Dermot Wilson
Video: Bob Steele
Seeing the Unseen
Seeing the Unseen is an installation of a body of work from painting, sculpture and performance explores the impact of deforestation and urban development on forests, questioning the balance between nature preservation and urban expansion. Inspired by delicate tree roots, which symbolize the fragility and quiet power of nature, the piece reflects on the vulnerability of ecosystems disrupted by human activity.
Cold Forest is a solo performance in gallery, reflects on the cycle of regeneration within clearcuts, where seeds grow into mature trees, nurturing future generations. Yet, just as life returns something goes wrong again. This thought-provoking performance juxtaposes renewal and destruction, urging reflection on how long we can exploit this fragile cycle before it breaks.
Location: Main Gallery in Neilson Created Park Center 2025
Choreography/costume/performer: Quan Steele
Music: curator/artist/musician Dermot Wilson
Additional music: Henry Purcell
Video: Bob Steele
Spirit of a Fallen Tree
Spirit of a Fallen Tree is a series of site-specific, ephemeral installations and performance. The artist embodies the spirit of a fallen tree, moving around it as if channeling its departing presence. The work explores movement, impermanence, time, and grief—reflecting on the lingering spirit of loss. Covering the face with cloth serves as a way to erase the self, allowing the moment to take over. It is not desire, but pure energy and emotion that moves the body.
Location: White Bear Forest, Temagami. 2024
Choreography/costume design/performer: Quan Steele
Music: Curator/musician/artist Dermot Wilson
Video: photographer/artist Clare Ross and Bob Steele
