Jon Gilchrist is a self-taught abstract artist born and raised in Oklahoma City, OK. I’ve grown up around art – from performance art, to acting, to poetry, to painting. My work reflects that involvement and evolution – that growth. Each of my artistic expressions created amazing opportunities for me to push my boundaries, take chances, and work beyond my comfort zones.
My Mother is a major motivation and inspiration in my art. And while she is no longer here, her words of encouragement and honesty live on. And those words fuel me to spread out and move onward. And so I paint – with my heart, with my spirits, with her memory.
So, every time I grab a brush and a canvas, I take chances – push myself to truly live my art.
My work symbolizes moments where words and feelings and thoughts and possibilities intersect. And the energy that spawns from that intersection inspires me to reflect how it resonates with me with on canvas. I draw from my own personal history and experiences regarding triumphs and heartbreaks and denials and fortitude, along with my empathy for the world around me to create what I visualize. That empathy extends from the emotions that underscore the challenges we face as people, races, genders, and ethnicities – and the hope I have that we can all overcome those challenges.
I combine colors and textures in uncommon ways. Positioning these combinations in a manner that demonstrates energy and movement. I use brush strokes and pressure as a way to convey nuance and subtlety. I also employ other objects, like hair combs and various palette knives, to communicate various thoughts in my work. I layer my work upon various textured substances in an unstructured manner, as a reflection of the emotions I’m conveying.