This artist started out doing shows with friends that were performance pieces in the 1970s. This is a recreation of a 1970s performance with the artist speaking and appearing live, while other artist wear clothes made from items you might eat, licorice for example.
Below is a more current showing of the artist’s style that what I listed. I enjoy it because you can see the variety of different paper the artist uses, even a cook book recipe sheet could be used. His creativity has no bounds. Also its great to see these long gardens on a wall as they might appear to you. The viewer gets a greater sense of respect for his design skills. Just the right amount of detail and mystery to keep the viewer moving constantly. The artist has sold many works to museums.
Robert Kushner got me inspired to paint florals using acrylics and mixed media a few years ago after seeing the wide range of expression that a master artist could produce. Not only is this artist great at capturing the description of the flower, but by using the colors involved, or inventing his own palette the pictures are so cleverly designed the viewers eye wanders and wanders the work without being board.
This artist has used acrylics for a large part of his work, but a piece is usually not done in one medium, rather he mixes several media at once. Oil, acrylics, glitter, copper leaf, gold leaf, mica , and resin. I have stood in front of a large canvas by the artist, around 60 by 60 inches, and by changing my position I felt the flower was alive.
The resin used to seal the art gave the work a glossy and shiny feel, but if you changed view points the work had a different feeling caused by the glitter that is in some of the resin. His work is just so unique its impossible to label.
The artist was born in Pasadena, California in 1949.
Went to college at University of California at San Diego. Finished in 1971.
Became a performance artist in the 1970s appearing sometimes nude on stage. Also was heavily influenced by the pattern and design movement as well as the concentration of design found in works in Orient.
Works with many different media at once such as oils, acrylics, ink, japanese ink, watercolor paper, canvas, rice paper, gold leaf, copper leaf, metallic and interference paints, and even glitter. The fact he can design a space as a large as an entire Japanese screen leaves the viewer highly impressed.
He now live in New York. This artist has done several public commissions and is included in many private collections as well. If you have the chance, be sure and see this artist’s work in person as it adds another dimension seeing all the different mediums interact and the many ways light reflects from the them differently.
Happy painting!
D
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