Sky Glabush Blends Sand And Oil To Create Textured Landscapes

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Artist Sky Glabush, known for his atmospheric landscape paintings, incorporates granular materials like sand into his oil works to create distinct textures. Glabush, who grew up on the west coast of British Columbia and is currently based in rural Ontario, often translates his emotional connection to specific natural places into color and abstract interpretations of terrain.

His technique involves mixing oil paint with particles such as sand, crushed quartz, or raw pigment. Initially, Glabush aimed to“obliterate the image” by combining materials, but discovered the imagery remained potent beneath the surface. He stated,“It was still present and humming under that surface layer. So it gave me the freedom of deciding what I wanted to hold on to or what I wanted to erase.” This process of adding and removing elements, often involving thin stains of paint and turpentine, has become central to his practice, resulting in relief-like paintings.

Glabush typically employs limited color palettes, often adhering to one or two families. Each piece usually begins with an architectural anchor, such as a grid or radial arrangement, which informs subsequent layers. He emphasizes that color is always“the unifying principle, it is the energy and dynamism, it is the element of surprise. Each painting often goes through several iterations of colour before deciding on a direction.” While he has explored other mediums, including carving, the conventions of painting consistently draw him back. He told Colossal,“That period of experimentation with sculpture allowed me to treat my paintings in a more physically robust and experimental way. But even during my most experimental period, I saw myself as a painter and wanted to find a way to express myself within that language.”

Several of Glabush's works, including“Wildflower field” (2025),“All night I heard a singing bird” (2025),“Firelight in pine forest” (2024),“Sun drunk” (2026),“River through trees” (2024),“The young novice” (2025),“Arid field with flowers” (2026),“Apple tree with night sky” (2026), and“Followers” (2026), will be featured in his solo exhibition, If the Wild Bird Could Speak. This show will be on view from November 20 to January 9 at Alison Jacques in London.

Source: This Is Colossal

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