A contemporary classical painter, Justin Wood studied illustration at the College of Visual Arts at Syracuse University and classical technique with Jacob Collins at Grand Central Atelier in New York City. Drawing inspiration from the great works of Caravaggio and Rembrandt, Wood’s oil paintings demonstrate his rigorous draftsmanship, but it is his use of chiaroscuro and tactility that give way to a distinct and alluring beauty in his work.

Equally adept at the art of portraiture and figure painting, Wood has turned his attention to still life painting of which he excels: “I’m trying to create scenes with well-crafted objects, says Wood, that are pleasant to look at and create a decorative ensemble.” Wood’s invented world of light, artifact, and nature resonate a calm stability, an atmosphere of meditative silence. With motifs similar to those used by the seventeenth century, Dutch still life painters, Wood’s tabletop arrangements present the viewer with an ordered world where man and nature dwell in harmony. Receptacles of pewter, copper, and silver coexist with figs, plums, peeling lemons, and other edibles, each work owing to its cohesion to the manner in which light is bathed around each object.

Justin Wood is currently represented by galleries in New York and Massachusetts and Amsterdam. His work has been featured in a number of art fairs and exhibitions throughout the United States. Wood teaches cast drawing and painting at the Grand Central Atelier.