about — Kurt

KURT LYONS

My practice explores the intersection of photography, painting, and abstraction by transforming overlooked materials—scratches, stains, and residue—into layered visual compositions that evoke gesture, atmosphere, and temporal depth. With a background in design and architecture, I approach these works with spatial awareness and structural tension, while embracing the expressive unpredictability of chance. Time and trace act as collaborators as I layer surfaces marked by others to create images that reveal dynamic accumulations. Rooted in a desire to elevate the marginal, my work reframes the discarded as sites of aesthetic and emotional resonance.

I extend the image beyond the photographic surface through painted interventions and unconventional mounting techniques that introduce physical texture and dimensionality. These tactile gestures reassert the presence of the artist’s hand—reclaiming a sense of aura within a medium typically associated with mechanical reproduction. In blurring the boundaries between image and object, photography and painting, my work resists fixed categorization and encourages a slower, more embodied mode of looking. The result is a shifting visual terrain where perception remains open, and materials once dismissed are reimagined as fields for reflection.
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Education:
Royal College of Art, MA
ArtCenter College of Design, BFA
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Awards & Recognitions:
Kurt has been recognized with dozens of prestigious awards for creative excellence including:

- 8x International GOOD DESIGN award recipient.
As awarded by: The Chicago Athenaeum
Museum of Architecture and Design.

- 9x ADEX Award recipient for design excellence

- 2x Nightingale Award recipient
As awarded by The Center for Health Design

- 5x Best of NeoCon Award recipient for design excellence
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Featured works at GOOD DESIGN Show Europe 2020
The European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies. Athens, Greece.
In conjunction with: The Chicago Anthenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design.