Steev graduated from the Otago Art School in 1987 and promptly went on to have a long career as a dancer before returning to his explorations in art 12 years later. He is a printmaker.

His work explores the interplay of surface texture with the natural rhythms of the landscape and looks at the effects of light and luminosity. His images are a response to living on the southern coastline and experiment with a feeling of being in the elements.

His research interests cover the technical processes of printmaking from stone lithography to techniques of photographic manipulation and look at the potential for combining one process with another.

Steev has been exhibited from Stewart Island to Auckland and is represented by The Artist's Room. He was recently awarded the 2005 Telecom Art Scholarship and third prize in the Hope and Sons Art Awards 2004.