Fellows: Austin Park

Austin Park grew up in Ft. Pierce, Florida and received his BFA from the University of Florida in 2003. He has always been interested in how we adapt to society over time and the modern rituals we create for ourselves His recent work is influenced from his time spent living and working in the Miami area, enamored by the collision of nature and the modern artificial world using environment and figure as symbols in dialogue with each other. He prefers the use of acrylics and mediums for the sense of immediacy and constructs images in plastic that reflect this dual reality.


Looking forward to the year, what do you think will be a challenge for you?

Austin: The challenge this year will be finding a balance between pushing my strengths and letting go of some of the conceptual baggage.  I think the year will be good for learning how to focus my ideas without going overboard and making the best use of my time in the studio.

What part of the art-making process do you find most satisfying?

Austin: What I have found to be the most satisfying thing about making art is solving certain problems you encounter while forming an image and discovering there are different ways to approach it. Something really happens between working from source material, life, and imagination together that you can't describe but transforms an idea into something more than you expected. Vincent Desiderio described it as finding 'the ineffable' in the studio.

Picnic c.1999-2009, 2010, Acrylic on Canvas, 48"x46"