Jylian Gustlin is a native Californian and grew up in the San Francisco bay area. She has been shaped by the technology explosion of Silicon Valley and her art reflects her in-depth knowledge of that technology.
“I knew that if I finished, I would never make art” is how Jylian Gustlin explains leaving college one semester short of a degree in computer science and mathematics to attend the Academy of Art College, San Francisco. After completing her BFA, Jylian fused her understanding of computers and her passion for art to became a graphics programmer for Apple Computer, Inc. Now, Jylian uniquely combines the effects of modern technology with traditional techniques. While painting in acrylic and oil paints, her artwork often conveys the same complex layered effects possible in computer programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Just as she challenged the creative limitations of the latest computer software, Gustlin experiments with a variety of materials to discover their effects. Working with two-part epoxy resin, oil and acrylic paints, charcoal, wax, gold leaf, pastel and graphite on board, Gustlin draws, paints, scratches on her surfaces.
Figures have always been an important part of Gustlin’s repertoire. Her characters are frequently set in an alien-like landscape, moody and brooding, yet at the same time, depicting a sense of future. Jylian has been influenced by a lifelong love of the Bay Area Figurative artists.
For the last two years, Jylian has been working on a series of paintings, both abstract and representational, that are based on the Fibonacci mathematical theories. The Fibonacci mathematical theory is based on the numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, and so on. Fibonacci mathematical calculations create rectangles and shell spirals based on the incrementally increasing numbers. She is also exploring the relationship of Fibonacci numbers to the petals on flowers and how to use these ideas in paintings as well as the relationship of Fibonacci to musical scales and how the 5-tone scale, 8-tone scale, and 13-tone scale. She continues to explore science and mathematics and how it intersects with the arts.
Galleries:
Sense Fine Art, Atherton, CA
Stricoff Gallery, New York, NY
Sopa Fine Arts , Kelowna BC
Freshpaint Art , Los Angeles, CA
Saltman Art Associates, Oak Park , CA
EDUCATION
Academy of Art University , San Francisco, CA
Bachelor of Fine Arts, concentration: Design and Fine Arts
San Jose State University
Computer Science Program
EXHIBITIONS & COLLECTIONS
Aeris , HANG Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA July 2007
Two Woman Show , Stricoff Gallery, New York, NY April 2007
Wish , HANG Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA, December 2007
Jylian, Red Sky Gallery, Charlotte, NC, October 2006
Kyros, HANG, San Francisco, CA, October, 2005
AAF Contemporary Art Fair, New York, NY, October, 2005
Jylian, Red Sky Gallery, Charlotte, NC, June, 2005
Figuratively Speaking, HANG, San Francisco, CA, April, 2005
Quidam, HANG, San Francisco, CA, August, 2004
Art Auction 2004, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, May, 2004
Heart of San Francisco (artist sponsored by Adobe) Locations throughout San Francisco, CA, June – November, 2004
Souvenirs, Reconstruction Bygones, HANG, San Francisco, CA February, 2004
College Track Benefit Auction, Palo Alto, CA, October, 2003
Gustlin & Fain: All About Eve, HANG, Palo Alto, CA June, 2003
MC2 Collection, San Francisco, CA, 2003
Found/Unbound, HANG, Palo Alto, CA, February, 2003
Francisco Partners Collection, San Francisco, CA 2001 - 2004
Seeing Red: Color Beyond the Pale, HANG, Palo Alto, CA, December, 2002
Sunset Magazine Idea House, Palo Alto, CA 2002
Colors of White HANG, San Francisco, CA 2002
Fresh Produce, HANG, San Francisco, July, 2002
Gustlin & McCuthcheon: On the Surface HANG annex, San Francisco, CA, May, 2002
Big Deal Visual Aid, San Francisco, CA annually 1992 – 2003
Featured Artist, December HANG, Palo Alto, CA 2001
Group Exhibition Adobe Corporation Gallery, San Jose, CA 1997
Group Exhibition Apple Showroom, Campbell, CA 1995
Small Works Pope Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA 1994
Contact Jylian Gustlin : jylian @acutedelirium.com