Robert Tapley Bustamante

Robert Tapley Bustamante is a nationally recognized artist and designer with recent shows in Kansas City, Saint Louis, Detroit, Philadelphia and NYC. Constantly pushing forward, rob is expanding into screenprinting to experiment with "visual vibrations". ******************************************************* The best description of my paintings would be “beautifully disturbing”. I am less interested in replicating exact visual forms, and more interested in the immediacy of communication. Therefore, I use thick heavy lines, typographical letters, and an overall flatness of form to achieve bold, consuming ardent narratives. My paintings explore the condition of the heart, and the things we say and do to each other. Bodily nakedness and emotional nakedness are intertwined, as often times to speak intimately with each other leaves us vulnerable and exposed. Intense tales of intimacy, love, angst, regret, sadness, and misplaced desire bubble up to the surface, but they're all coated in glittering colors that mask the emotions of the paintings from a distance. I do this on purpose, as people themselves sugar coat what is really going on in their lives, and from a distance appear appealing. I am not interested in painting what I see. I am more interesting in painting what I know to be emotionally true. Painting is not about depicting well-behaved animals and bowls of fruit, to me painting is emotional warfare. Razor sharp offensive and defensive measures must be utilized in order to reach those in need of solace. Flat out. I am less concerned with making art that makes people superficially feel good, and more concerned with making art that is relevant and alive. All of these things I create I do out of love, and not to be a clever smartass artist. Creating art for self-glorification is boring. Creating art out of self-sacrifice is honorable. I desire to comfort the sorrowful, and reach those who are brokenhearted.