Abstraction With Volume.
by Christopher Durst
Large-scale abstract paintings shaped by experience, atmosphere, and process.
Most of my paintings begin without a fixed outcome. I start with a gesture, a color, a texture, or a mark and allow the work to develop through observation and response. Layers are built, removed, and reworked over time as the painting gradually reveals its own direction. The process is less about executing a plan and more about remaining attentive to what emerges along the way.
The Work
I am interested in creating paintings that feel experienced rather than observed. Built through layers of color, texture, gesture, and interruption, the work invites sustained looking and gradual discovery. While each painting develops differently, they share a common pursuit: creating a physical presence that unfolds over time.
Rather than depicting a specific subject, the paintings create space for interpretation. Relationships between surface, scale, tension, and atmosphere are left open enough for viewers to bring their own experiences to the work, allowing each encounter to become personal and unique.
Before The Canvas
Before painting became my primary medium, I spent years documenting music, culture, and life on the road as a photographer. My work took me behind the scenes of concerts, festivals, tours, and creative communities throughout the United States and Europe.
Those experiences taught me to pay attention—not only to events themselves, but to the people, environments, and moments that surrounded them. The perspective developed through those years continues to influence the way I approach creative work today.
The Same Instinct
The photographs above represent years spent documenting musicians, audiences, and the culture that forms around creative communities. While painting has become my primary medium, those experiences remain an important part of how I see and engage with the world.
What once drew me to photography continues to drive my work today: a curiosity about people, places, energy, and experience. The tools have changed, but the impulse to observe, explore, and create remains the same.
Let’s Start A Conversation
Whether you are a collector, curator, designer, fellow artist, or simply someone who connected with the work, I welcome the opportunity to hear from you.
For information regarding available paintings, commissions, exhibitions, or collaborations, please get in touch.