Amy Kustra
Portland, Maine
Website:
www.amykustra.com
Social Media
Instagram
How would you describe your work?
My work is in a constant state of evolution.
In 2015 I transitioned from being a full time family doctor to art. My initial focus was the figure and I spent many hours in life drawing sessions and workshops. At the same time with living in Maine, the lure of the outdoors is strong, so I started to paint plein air. Maine has a rugged coastline and thousands of islands and routinely in summer I paint on Monhegan Island where for over a hundred years artists have flocked. I find the sheer physicality of painting outside exhilarating and the changing weather and light keeps the painting fresh.
As I’ve gotten further away from medicine and my senses and intuition have awoken, I find that I am more attracted and interested in color and abstraction and am relying on memory and intuition more.
Currently I am on a one-year trip abroad with my family. We have traveled the American west and are now in Asia. I have been painting all along with a focus on abstract landscapes of wilderness. In this rapidly changing world, with species loss and global warming; this body of work is hoping to draw a spotlight to how crucial it is that we preserve our wild spaces and rewild our habitats.
What inspires you?
Being alive inspires me. I’ve gone through a lot in my life and have had many challenges to navigate so just having the opportunity right now to follow my dream, which is art, constantly brings me joy and gratitude.
On a daily basis I am inspired by nature, especially the blooming trees of spring and the changing light over the river I live on. I also travel a lot of and have a curiosity for religious icons and hidden temples and chapels, as well as the patterns on textiles and seeing how colors represent a place and culture. Wherever I go I seek out the local galleries and museums and immerse myself in the place through the art. One of my favorite recent museums was The New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe.
I read a lot of work by modern contemplatives and old mystics – these inspire every aspect of my work and life.
Can you speak about your process?
I’m a lifelong learner and self-taught artist so am constantly trying new techniques, mediums and situations in which to paint in.
Frequently my pieces start with walks outside in the forest, on the beach, in farm fields. It is there that I find my muse; a shade of green that intrigues me, or the way light falls on a dewy blossom, or the sound of a wave crashing and my wanting to make my paint to carry the sound of the wave.
The moment I get into the studio I immediately start - setting an intention for the painting, using my muse and energy in thinking about color and composition, jotting down notes, quotes, collecting some images that inspire me. Then after I have an idea of what direction I want to go and have a thumbnail composition, as well as a general color palette, I work more intuitively. I alternate between working in oil and acrylic, depending on my mood, time frame and weather, as well as what effect I am looking for.
How did you become interested in art?
My mother was a gifted artist whose career was cut short due to marrying young and having 5 children. But she instilled in me from an early age an appreciation of the masters as well as how to live an artistic life. As a teen I went to Europe numerous times and visited all the major art museum in Rome, Venice, Florence, London, Paris, Budapest and Prague. It was during these years free sketching in museums and out in town squares among the masters that I developed a deeper appreciation of art. My life took a different course though in my early 20s after I met Mother Teresa and felt called to be a physician and to work with the underserved. I tried to keep my art practice going while practicing medicine but that was challenging. I ended up leaving medicine 8 years ago in order to pursue my first passion and make art full time.
Do you have any favorite artists, movies, books or quotes?
An artist that made a big impression on me in my early years was Egon Schiele – I stumbled on an exhibit of his in Česky Krumlov, a town in the Czech Republic and saw something so fresh that it took my breath away.
I could spend hours looking at the hands drawn by Michelangelo and at the same time love the figurative work of Diebenkorn and Hung Liu.
I also love Alice Neel, Faith Ringgold, and all of the work of the “9th Street Women”: Joan Mitchell, Lee Krasner, Grace Hartigan and Elaine DeKooning. The book is a marvelous glimpse into their lives and the art scene in the 30s and 40s in New York City.
And I love all the books and work of Francoise Gilot the ex-lover of Picasso and Mother of Paloma Picasso. She a wonderful model of strength, focus and resilience.
Contemporary artists I love are Zanele Muholi from South Africa, Alaskan native Kylie Manning, Irene Hardwicke Olivieri based in Santa Fe and Parisian Ramzi Ghotbaldin.
Favorite movies are Tilda Swinton in “I Am Love” filmed in an old palace in Milan which is part palace, part museum and part prison. The movie is about passion and creativity which is stifled and how it finds its path to freedom. I also love the film “Water” by Indo-Canadian film write and director Deepa Mehta. The film is about the lives of widows in an ashram in Varanasi and is about love, deep kindness, loss and hope. Favorite books are “The Architect’s Apprentice” by Elif Shafak, anything by Thich Nhat Han and the biographies of Gandhi, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and Isabella Stewart Gardner.
Other authors are Terry Tempest Williams, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Toni Morrison (loved her book “Jazz”) and Sherri Mitchell (“Sacred Instructions”).
I’ve read most of Maya Angelou’s books and her quote “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” resonates with me.
What advice do you have for younger artists?
It always helps me to open up my senses before I paint – going for a walk, stretching or yoga, putting on music, watering plants… Engaging all our senses brings your whole self into your work, gets you out of your head and brings in your soul and intuition.
Find what your muse is for the work you are creating and let that inspiration light your energy for the piece.
When you connect with something you love or care about, that passion will propel you forward and provide a focus for the work. Robert Henri talks about this a lot in his book “The Art Spirit.”
And lastly stepping out of the way of your creating – knowing that there is something greater at work here than you and your medium. Once we can let the ego go as well as the end result, the work and process take on a life of their own.
