Watch How Nicholas Yust Brings His Explosive Chemistry to Contemporary Art

Posted March 8, 2023

In Art & Gallery News, Artists & Special Collections, Nicholas Yust, Video

Meet Nicholas Yust, a true innovator in the world of contemporary metal art. With years of study and a Masters of Science in metallurgical engineering in his background, Yust brings his unparalleled knowledge to every work of art he creates. As a result, his original metal artwork has a level of detail, color, and technical brilliance that has set him apart from his contemporaries and has thrilled collectors around the world.

You can watch Yust’s explosive creativity on display in this exclusive video from Park West Gallery.

According to Yust, “There’s a bit of chemistry in what I do: fusing chemicals and heat to create a unique signature style that brings metal to life.”

After studying art and engineering at college, Yust began working for the United States Air Force at Wright Patterson AFB, researching superconductivity and thin film-coated conductors, and graduated with a B.S. in materials engineering and an M.S. in metallurgical engineering.

Returning to his interest in art, he developed his first few wall sculptures from aluminum panels and began working with other kinds of metal art, creating over a dozen unique grind patterns which have become signature characteristics of his work. To add color to his creations, he experimented with transparent coatings to allow his unique grind patterns to be seen through a spectrum of colors. This evolved into the invention of an atomized acrylic painting process for metal, and he remains the only metal artist in the industry with this capability.

The singular way Yust creates his art means that he doesn’t normally work with traditional artist tools like paintbrushes or palette knives. Instead, Yust is more likely to use plasma torches, power hammers, grinders, welders, and other tools that one would normally find in a tool & die plant rather than in an artist’s studio.

And Yust even has one more extremely non-traditional tool in his artistic toolbox—fire. “Sometimes I use fire to bring out texture,” Yust said. “I splash a flammable solvent on the surface of the artwork and ignite it, and that creates an organic texture in the chemical patina.”

With all of the fine detail, creative structure, precise symmetry, and contemporary appeal that has become synonymous with Yust’s work, perhaps the most impressive, defining element is the more than 50 unique, signature grind patterns that really give his art the “WOW” factor.

No one creates metal art like Nicholas Yust does, and the thrill of his intricate process keeps Yust (and his collectors) coming back for more.

“The best part of my job is there is no plan,” Yust said. “I get to come into work, I’m surrounded by endless creativity, and I never know what I’m going to come up with next.”