Three Colour Theorization: In the studio with Amy Musto
Words by Emma Grayson
Amy in her home studio
On a brisk November day, Emma Grayson (correspondent for AWS Gallery and #AWSWatch) visited with contemporary artist Amy Musto to talk about her experience working in the art world, her thoughts on her current artistic series, the future of the art world (and the elusive concept of NFT’s).
Coming from a role as a Creative Director with a background in graphic design, Amy is very much in touch with her artistic side. She splits her time between Southampton, New York and Miami, Florida. Her style today is one that has matured from the curious girl maneuvering her way through uncharted adolescence into a more intricate adult life. Spending her life travelling all over the world, it is, without a doubt, her experimental style that evokes different memories from her past.
CB2021.33. Acrylic on canvas 20"x20." 2021.
Photograph provided by Amy Musto
When it comes to painting, Musto had no formal training. Spending her life travelling all over the world, it is, without a doubt, her experimental style that evokes different memories from her past. When viewing one of her works, she explains that her paintings - “put you in a realm [belonging to that particular] decade - that [particular] year, and what[ever] personal connections you may have had to that time.” Her works, she says, serve as a “memory archive for feeling.”
Musto’s time spent in India during her career greatly influenced her artistic practice, and the fluid brush strokes conveyed through her art from this period helped informed her practice moving forward. Musto’s work transitioned from an impressionist style to a more minimalist techniques seen in the works here. Similar to what she explored at the very beginning of her artistic practice, this progression substantiates Musto’s belief that art is a true reflection of an individual’s persona. From past traumas to current successes, and everything in between, her oeuvre captures and expresses a rare artist who indulges in her own creative whims. Yet, what version of that person is captured? Does the significance lie in the interpretation through the eyes of the viewer, or through the eyes of the artist? Musto declares that it's impossible to remove the artist’s hand from the work, but that no interpretation is complete without the perspective of the viewer.
CB2021.32. Acrylic on canvas 20"x16." 2021.
Photograph provided by Amy Musto
CB2021.19. Acrylic on canvas 16"x20." 2021.
Photograph provided by Amy Musto
“A piece of art should evolve throughout its life,” Musto tells AWS during our exclusive visit to her home studio. Someone with 30 years of experience would, in fact, know best in this case. She observes how the next generation of artists is radicalizing the space with which she’s been so familiar with: “sometimes, as an older artist, you’re aware of this phenomenon,” she muses. We discuss how the “aspect of possession and the physicality of art - nowadays - is completely different generation-wise.” Our conversation turns to the topic of the ‘hyper modern,’ non-fungible tokens (NFTs) flooding the market.
CB2021.35. Acrylic on canvas 16"x20." 2021.
Photograph provided by Amy Musto
Working strictly in paints, Musto is fascinated by the opportunities of NFTs and how “you can use them to enhance your own artistic process.” Her current Colorbox series takes on a certain tension developed out of “a need to be strong and calm” and “inspired by the Perez Museum talks… each canvas is like a box,” she says. By using only three colors in each work, her particular style here helps to convey the visual simile in all respects.
“How interesting,” Amy thinks aloud to me as we putter around her studio, to consider a digital piece to accompany my physical works. Her background in digital illustration lends to her ability to imagine such things … “an elaborate motion graphic, or even just a basic gif,” she goes on. With NFTs becoming more accepted in the realms of traditional art, who’s to say Musto won’t be able to trace a perfect line between chaos and order? One that she’s been towing throughout the span of her career and a line in which we can’t wait to see her trace in the future. Be sure to check her out on Instagram and view her website here.
Detail from Musto’s home studio
Photograph provided by Amy Musto
