Guy Gaswint’s “Imperfect Reflection,” KUAC’s 2019 poster, was created while Gaswint was appearing in the KUAC TV production “Into the Woods.” Its stunning colors and striking image are grounded in a written work from Bruce Chatwin describing Patagonia.
Born in Kalispell, Montana, Gaswint spent his younger years “terrorizing the state of Washington” before he joined the U.S. Army at 17. He traveled the world for 20 years; he watched the Berlin Wall fall in 1989, learned fluent German and helped the mother of his son immigrate to the U.S. When the Army brought him to Fairbanks in 2003 he immediately decided it was to be his final home state.
“I never wanted to be an artist and actually had no artistic desire that I knew of until I met Mr. Woodward,” Gaswint said. “He asked me if I would like to learn how to paint and I said yes, only because I could not think of a reason not to. Now that I have started producing art there is nothing else that I would rather be doing.”
Participating in the television series had a huge impact on Gaswint’s interest in art. “After the show, I realized that I had been an artist my whole life,” he said. “Everyone is an artist in their own way. Art is not a painting or a drawing; art is an expression of ourselves and can take the form of a chair, garden, quilt, a hair style. Actually anything that we try to make aesthetically pleasing is art.”
“We are in essence nothing but energy and our emotions are how our energy is expressed,” Gaswint stated. “Art at its core can only be a tangible expression of our personal energy, and emotions. I strive to make my art thought provoking through content and intriguing by providing small details and over-exaggerations of shape and form. My artistic vision is that my art should attack the sense of touch and sight.”
