Emerging Artists | Lindsey Kustusch

Fleeting moments in time

Lindsey Kustusch, First Stop of the Night, oil, 24 x 24.

This story was featured in the July 2015 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art July 2015 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story!

Whether it’s a gritty street in San Francisco or a quiet residential street in Oakland where she lives, Lindsey Kustusch is influenced by her surroundings when it comes to subject matter. Kustusch’s moody slices of city life capture a fleeting moment in time. “Much like a memory or a distant thought, the ‘feeling’ is strong but the edges have softened and blurred, and the details have become abstracted shapes and forms,” she says.

This month Kustusch’s works are on view in two shows—a group show titled Introductions, opening on July 10 at Abend Gallery in Denver, CO, and a solo show opening on July 30 at Studio Gallery in San Francisco.

The artist grew up in the Chicago area and studied briefly at the American Academy of Art. In 2002 she moved to San Francisco and studied for several years at the Academy of Art University. But Kustusch believes her most crucial art lessons have happened in her studio, where she studied paintings by artists she admired, collected ideas and inspiration, and painted miles and miles of trial-and-error canvases.

For Kustusch the city as subject matter has continued to offer endless visual fodder over the years because of what she calls the “raw energy” of the urban environment. “Also inspiring is the wildlife that seamlessly coexists in the city, and the overwhelming presence of growth and change,” Kustusch says. “My goal as an artist is to capture moments in time in pictorial form, and the city is an ever-changing entity with no two days the same.”

More recently, the artist says, subject matter even closer to home has offered inspiration, including interiors like her own kitchen. “Regardless of my subject, my goal is to capture brief moments in time and to evoke the feeling of being present in that split second,” she says. “I like to use paint as a way of conveying the beauty in everyday moments and as a reflection on the memories we take with us. Because, after all, life becomes a series of memories, so it’s all in how they’re interpreted.” —Bonnie Gangelhoff

representation
Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Abend Gallery, Denver, CO; Lovetts Gallery, Tulsa, OK; Howard/Mandville Gallery, Kirkland, WA.

Featured in the July 2015 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art July 2015 print issue or digital download Or subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!