Artist statement

My work explores the images and ideologies of my childhood and adolescence in white, rural, working-class America. I grew up in a small town in Eastern Washington that consists of farmland, rodeo grounds, a high school, a middle school, and a main street. My family was poor and moved there for opportunity, but the town presented limited options. My paintings examine the landscapes, people, and attitudes I was raised within. Through repetition, metaphor, symbolism, and humor, I use painting to reflect on the process of my own learning and unlearning. 

To construct my paintings, I work primarily from my imagination while combining photographic and life references to add specificity to the characters and landscapes. Building the world from scratch allows me to create a world that embodies the attitudes of scarcity and survival intrinsic to these communities. Almost all my paintings depict men. Some of the scenes are specific moments from my life – recast with characters emblematic of the deeply entrenched notions of toxic masculinity, repeating the performances of their forefathers to survive, no matter how misguided. In other paintings, I rely more on symbolism, to reimagine and materialize the complex dynamics between myself and the men who raised me.

biography

Austin Harris was born in Bellevue, Washington in 1995 and spent his early childhood in Seattle. Though he moved schools frequently, his passion for drawing—for which he gained both technical skill and inspiration from his father—remained consistent. At age 11, Harris moved to Ellensburg, where his family chose to reside permanently. Harris spent most of his time drawing and chasing his creative desires, and, with the encouragement of his high school art teacher, decided to pursue a career in the arts. In 2018, as a first-generation college student, Harris received his Bachelor in Fine Arts with a focus in painting at Central Washington University. Harris moved to New York where he received an MFA in Painting at the New York Academy of Arts in 2020. Shortly after, Harris was offered his first solo exhibition with Over the Influence Los Angeles and has since had international shows in London, Hong Kong and Paris. Harris lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.