Chris Gwaltney’s paintings offer a poetic visual language shaped by color, gesture and revision. Chairs, houses and figures move between representation and abstraction, with expressive lines and strokes suggesting presence and emotion. His attention to color relationships invites comparisons with Milton Avery, while Gwaltney cites Richard Diebenkorn, Nathan Oliveira and Joan Mitchell as influences, alongside the mark-making of Cy Twombly.

Beginning with smears and marks on the canvas, Gwaltney builds, sketches and pares back, removing what feels unnecessary. “I’m a better editor than I am an inventor,” he explains. “I’ll paint in many figures and let them fight it out.” Underlying sketches remain visible in the finished work, preserving traces of what he calls the “original argument.” As he puts it, “some paintings are a conversation, others are an argument.”

Personal relationships are central to his practice. The growth of his children, the resilience and strength of his wife, and the loss of his father and father-in-law have all informed his work. These experiences provide an honest foundation for exploring layered emotions, with gesture and suggestion taking precedence over precise representation. For Gwaltney, a painting is ultimately “a testament to time well spent.”

Born in Van Nuys, California, Gwaltney began painting full-time at 23 after an injury left him on crutches for a year and a half. He earned his BA and master’s degree from California State University, Fullerton.