Dr. Version

Artist Statement

I work with video sources to create non-static digital artworks influenced by painting traditions—abstraction, surrealism, biomorphism, and color field. My digital approach shares a painterly attention to mark, surface, texture, and composition. I aim to evoke a sense of surface and materiality, bending the screen toward something that feels physical and analog. The looping GIF is an ideal medium—always in motion, eternal.

I often incorporate sound to extend the idea of perpetual motion. What if a piece emitted sound, or if sound drove its movement? How would that change the relationship between image and motion?

My work reflects an interest in time, space, and transformation—how landscapes, architecture, and geology shift with daylight and decay. I aim to heighten perception, drawing attention to representations of visual details both mundane and spectacular.

Dr. Version (Stephen Hermann) is a visual artist, music producer, and sound designer whose work bridges moving image, audio composition, and immersive digital media. His practice emerged from graduate studies in studio arts at the University of Minnesota, where an early focus on painting developed alongside a growing interest with music production and sound. As a founding member of Sukpatch, he signed a Sony Music publishing deal and a record contract with the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal label.

In the late 90s, Hermann moved to New York City, where his focus shifted fully toward music production and sound design. There he established Explosion Robinson, producing custom music, sonic branding, and audio post‑production for advertising and media.

Visual art has remained a continuous thread in his work, leading to the creation of Dr. Version—a hybrid practice where motion, color, and often sound converge in digital form. His recent works translate the sensibilities of painting into time-based media, generating perceptual spaces that oscillate between the abstract and the surreal. He is an active creator and collector within the Tezos-based digital art community.

BFA - University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

MFA - University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

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