Jylian Gustlin

Divus 26

2022

Born and raised in California, contemporary painter Jylian Gustlin makes art that is heavily inspired by our technology-driven world. Gustlin's firsthand experiences with the rise of Silicon Valley loom large in her abstract paintings and figurative paintings. 

Gustlin grew up in San Francisco and attended San Jose State University in the early 1980s, where she studied computer science and mathematics. She left the university just one semester short of finishing her course requirements, opting instead to make art. Gustlin enrolled at the Academy of Art University and graduated with a BFA in 1986. She subsequently embarked on a career as a graphics programmer at Apple Inc.

Gustlin started to show her art in the 1990s, with her first exhibit, "Small Works," held at the Pope Gallery in Santa Cruz in 1994. She continued exhibiting throughout California into the mid-2000s, and later in New York City and the rest of the country.

Gustlin draws on the legendary decades-long Bay Area Figurative Movement and creates abstract and representational art that explores Fibonacci mathematical theories. She works with acrylic paints, epoxy resins, wax, charcoal, graphite and more to create provocative mixed-media paintings that feature complex, dazzling patterns and rich swathes of color.

Gustlin continues to live and work in California, painting out of a studio on her family's large compound. In 2022, she honored her family and their support of her work with an exhibition called "Terra Familia" at Gallery MAR in Park City, Utah. Many of the pieces represented a collaboration with her brothers and sisters.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Jylian Gustlin paintings.