Artist Statement

Holden St.Aubyn is a paint-focused artist who strives to find the beauty in butt ugly. He paints distorted human bodies again and again both wholly and in various segments in hopes to convince both his audience and himself that the things we hold as ugly are no less beautiful and visually interesting than the rest of the world. Growing up “the fat kid,” Holden strives to normalize bigger bellies, pizza faces, and any other “deformities” that leave a child thinking they’re less than human.

Holden hopes to capture the “essence of ennui” that hovers around the lower income or otherwise “down and out” population of North America, showing more interest in an exact feeling than an exact face. He uses vibrant colors and exaggerated expressions to soften the blow of his sometimes challenging subject matter. We do not live in happy times, but, with a little help and a touch of pigment, Holden hopes we can at least live in funny ones.