Kurtis Wells

My work operates where humor, discomfort, and emotional intensity collide

I create images that resist control—exaggerated, unstable, and psychologically charged. High-contrast, saturated color amplifies the tension, pushing familiar forms into uneasy territory.

I work intuitively, using acrylics, oil bars, and mixed media to build paintings that evolve through repetition rather than resolution. I paint in series because ideas need space to shift, contradict, and deepen. What begins as observation often mutates into satire or confession, guided by impulse rather than restraint.

The work absorbs the political residue of the Bush era to the present—war, surveillance, economic unease, populism, and culture-war fatigue—filtered through humor and distortion rather than direct statement. Politics isn’t illustrated; it’s embedded, surfacing as tension, noise, and unease. Pop culture, street imagery, music, and everyday absurdity function as raw material rather than commentary. I avoid fixed narratives, trusting viewers to complete the work through their own experience. Meaning emerges through participation, not instruction.

This body of work presents paintings that have never been shown before—made without an audience in mind. It is not a summary or conclusion, but a moment of exposure within an ongoing practice. Painting is not a choice or an escape—it’s a compulsion. Each piece is part of a continuous cycle driven by curiosity, honesty, and an unwillingness to behave.