Kathy Buist

Bio

Kathy Buist is a distinguished artist whose work has garnered critical acclaim, including praise from The New York Times. Exhibited in prominent museums and galleries across the United States, Kathy's paintings have been shown in venues such as the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, NY; the Andrews Museum in Andrews, NC; Ogunquit Museum of American Art in Maine; and the Long Island Museum in New York. Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine recognized Kathy as one of “Today’s Masters,” a title reflecting their mastery of both form and expression.

Beyond exhibitions, Kathy's dedication to craft has been furthered through artist residencies in Vermont and Virginia, providing a deepened exploration into themes that resonate with collectors worldwide. Their work now resides in numerous international private collections, marking Kathy as a significant presence in contemporary art.

Statement

Kathy Buist’s work has been widely celebrated for its intensity and evocative energy. In The New York Times, art critic Phyllis Braff describes Buist's paintings as having a “fierce intensity in paint that demands attention,” and praises her “small, swiftly captured sensations” as “particularly convincing.” Braff also notes the “generous amount of visual energy in Buist’s Long Island and Vermont scenes, so richly brushed they make the paint seem almost sensual.” Each bold stroke in Buist’s landscapes carries a sense of scale and grandeur, transforming simple elements of nature into powerful, evocative forms.

Buist's art invites viewers to look beyond the surface, to discover something inward and elemental within each scene. As she explains, "When I see a landscape, I’m always trying to look beyond the structures of what I see into something more inward, more elemental.” Her visual explorations, from expansive seven-foot compositions to intimate four-by-six-inch studies, are guided by strong, urgent forms and a vigorous light that dominates as the central character in her work.

Of the range in scale, Buist reflects, “Big and small images are challenging in very different ways. In the large works, it’s preserving spontaneity and coherence in what I’m communicating. With the small works, it’s capturing the energy without confining it, in a space that may be not much bigger than a paperback.” Her work thrives on this balance of intensity and restraint, bringing to life a visceral experience of the landscape in each brushstroke.