Artist Statement

While our perceptions of the past and expectations for the future hold influence over the present, it is the inescapable “now” that is the only time we can truly claim to experience in all of its rawness. I work with acrylic paint, canvas, and a wide array of paint application tools from brushes to squeegees while exploring this concept, advocating for the unique value of each moment, and spending time to understand the rich complexity that we call the present. I favor spontaneous decisions, gestural marks, bold contrast, simple shapes, and pure colors in combination with highly intuitive working methods. This manifests in the work as abstract spaces filled with energy and quickly drawing the eye’s attention, laying bare as well as celebrating the rapid, action-packed nature of their origin. Both recognizable and foreign subjects alike form and dissolve as instantaneously as a thought comes and goes, functioning to bring the awareness of the viewer continuously back to their present experience. This body of work pulls inspiration from art historical groups such as the Abstract Expressionists, the Surrealists, and the Japanese Gutai Group, relating it back to the discussions surrounding how the subconscious and other subliminal forces influence how we act in real-time.

We have been conditioned to the fast pace of life brought about by our indoctrination of the digital age. Many disciplines have already made large and numerous leaps of innovation as a direct consequence. They will likely continue to do so, too, and perhaps at even faster rates as time goes on. As all of this takes place, our moments seem to grow shorter, and their worth is taken for granted. It is because of this that now, more than ever, it is important to remind each other of all the beauty to find at a single point in time. We may be beyond the point of making the seconds of the day feel as long as they once used to be, but we can take comfort in the fact that beauty and importance still exist in the fleeting when we take the time to notice it.

— Kyle Agustines