A Morgan Hill artist whose work bridges the worlds of technology and fine art will debut a solo exhibition this weekend at Cura Contemporary art gallery, bringing together paintings that reflect decades of life spent at the intersection of mathematics, nature and artistic experimentation.
Jylian Gustlin’s “The Human Condition” opens with a free public reception 4-6pm March 7, and runs through April 26.
The exhibition features works showcasing a breadth of styles and techniques. A former computer scientist and mathematician, many of Gustlin’s works feature mathematical patterns that draw from naturally occurring series, such as the Fibonacci sequence, made three-dimensional using layers of acrylic paint with additional depth created by scratching into and overlaying surfaces.
“So Fibonacci is a mathematical series,” Gustlin explained. “And it’s found everywhere, from fractals to flowers to bees to everything, there are Fibonacci numbers.”
Gustlin grew up in Santa Clara, the daughter of an IBM computer scientist father and an artist mother, resulting in her unique fusion of themes. Before becoming a full-time artist, she worked as a programmer at Apple. She left the company after 12 years to pursue art full-time, a gamble that paid off and has sustained her career for 25 years.
Also on display at the downtown Morgan Hill gallery are equine works created in collaboration with her brother, David Gustlin. The collaborative pieces combine David’s passion for equine painting with Jylian’s distinctive layering techniques, resulting in what the gallery describes as a unique fusion of two distinct styles.
Gustlin said the title of the exhibition traces back to a formative experience at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the 1980s, where a large-scale sculptural installation stopped her in her tracks. The piece featured towering figures fashioned from steel, their arms moving and clattering in unison.
“I sat under them and I thought: this is the human condition,” she said.
That idea has anchored her work ever since. Nature, animals and the rhythms of daily life on her rural Morgan Hill property are recurring touchstones. Gustlin, an avid trail runner, said much of what appears in her paintings reflects what she sees and feels in the forests and hills near her home.
“It’s always a surprise, and it’s fascinating,” she said. “It’s a lot about what goes on in my life and my head.”
Though the works on display at Cura will consist primarily of paintings, Gustlin rejects the mantle of “painter” and insists that her preferred artistic medium is “everything.”
“Dirt, rocks, plants, all mixed with paint,” she said. “I literally use everything.”
Gustlin also works with wax, charcoal, gold leaf, two-part epoxy resin, pastel and graphite. Some newer works in the exhibition incorporate UV-reactive paint, revealing hidden detail only when viewed under an ultraviolet lamp. She calls her experimental mix of varied techniques “alchemy.”
As for what she hopes visitors take away from the show, Gustlin kept it simple.
“I hope they just fall in love with it,” she said. “I hope people enjoy it.”
Cura Contemporary is located at 17395 Monterey Road in Morgan Hill. The opening reception for “The Human Condition” on March 7 is free and open to the public. The exhibition remains on view through April 26.
