Kim Kustera is a painter featured in this year’s Art After Dark. One of her pieces was sold to Gainesville man who is starting a new gallery.
WHEN DID SHE START PAINTING?
“I really started pursuing it around the ninth grade.”
HER MEDIUMS?
“I’ve done it all, but basically I like acrylic painting, collage and some printmaking. I find oils more difficult because you have to wait a few days to let it dry before you can fix it.”
EDUCATION
Kustera attended Florida Community College at Jacksonville and is working on her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of North Florida.
BORN
South America. At an early age, she was adopted and brought to New York. In 1993, she moved to Florida with her family.
NOT A STARVING ARTIST
Painting is Kustera’s full-time job. Her only other job was as a makeup artist at Origins.
“That was kind of like art because I had to pick colors. Basically, I had been selling my art to my friends and family. That really got me by.”
WHAT DOES SHE ENJOY MOST ABOUT ART?
“Painting is so amazing to me because it’s all about how you are that day. To me, a painting is never finished because you can always rework it.”
WHAT SUBJECTS DOES
SHE PAINT?
“I love color, but my main focus is flowers, catching their form. Actually, I was in an independent study this summer where I could focus on any theme I wanted and I was really into flowers. I started with realistic [styles] and went all the way to abstraction. I like to capture more of the form, not just identifying it as a pretty flower. Going inside the flower a little more, you can see how color patterns go into it. When you look into a flower, you see lines and contours, creases and wilting.”
WHAT’S MOST CHALLENGING?
“Flowers only last so long so you have to rush with it. Most challenging is trying to make the composition work where it’s interesting and not just sitting there.”
IS THERE A MESSAGE BEHIND HER PAINTINGS?
“No, not really. I do it because it makes me happy.”
WHO IS HER MAIN INFLUENCE?
“Georgia O’Keefe. I don’t want to be her, but looking at her paintings is very influential. She paints flowers in washes of lush color.”
WHAT INSPIRES HER
TO CREATE?
“Colors, making up new colors. What’s fun about painting is messing around with color to find one you love then trying to remember what that color looked like and making it work with something.”
WHAT IS HER FASCINATION WITH COLORS?
“Colors match people’s personalities just like music. There’s all sorts of music out there for everybody. When I mess around with different palettes, there’s something for everybody’s liking.”
WHAT IS HER PROFESSIONAL GOAL?
“Right now, I’m still focusing on school. Eventually, I want to get more in-depth with that, join organizations and get my name out there.”
WHAT ARE HER
PERSONAL INTERESTS?
An active 21-year-old, Kustera enjoys spending her time hanging out with friends, surfing, skateboarding and going to the beach. She is also a big fan of Disney movies, nature trails and Chinese food. To unwind, she curls up with one of her old art history books.
— by Monica Chamness