André Pike: Funky, fun with a hint of sophistication

The Salt Lake City artist finds inspiration in the female face and an endless realm of possibilities in mixed media.

[easy-media med=»2559″ size=»350,350″ align=»right» mark=»gallery-Aw16GS»] For young Salt Lake City artist André Pike, the female face is an indefatigable source of inspiration. “Capturing someone’s facial structure and essence is very thrilling to me because each one is never the same,” says Pike, who started painting and drawing seven years ago when he was 12.  It is so that his style mirrors the essence of his subjects such as music divas Sarah Vaughan, Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross: “funky, fun, with a hint of sophistication.”

Influenced by pop art realism, color field and abstract art, Pike favors mixed media because of its seemingly endless possibilities. “You can create funky textures, patterns, 3D structures and so on, all of this can’t always be accomplished with just using one medium. It’s something that’s not usually intentional for me to make a mixed media piece, it usually just happens to fit the art piece,” he says.

In his fledgling but productive career, Pike aspires to open an art gallery in the city while searching for one thing: “The works of art I dream up in my mind haven’t quite matched my work in reality quite yet. I’m not sure they ever will.”

~ Suan Pineda

André Pike

Photo: Preston Mackay

André Pike, a Salt Lake City artist, has participated in public murals for organizations such as Neighbor Works and Utah Transit Authority, with Utah artist Ruby Chacón. He also took part in the SLC, RAWartist event Discovery. Pike is currently working on a visual arts degree at Salt Lake Community College.

[Photo: Preston Mackay]