AUGUSTINE BOYCE CUMMINGS
From the West Coast to the East
Augustine Boyce Cummings is an artist who works in grand scale, mixing both traditional and abstract elements in his creations. The composition of his works so elegantly hung throughout the high ceilings of the Mosaic Artspace in Long Island City are elevated in design [noun; an arrangement of lines or shapes created to form a pattern or decoration] straddling a line between expressive and technical application. His influences are drawn from his childhood growing up in the mid-western hemisphere of the United States and speak to his experiences and passion for community-driven activities like basketball and hunting, exploring the diversity between each scope. Originally from Colorado, Augustine is richly embedded with a love for the West - its landscapes, wildlife, and people are woven into the fabric of his creations. Working through the pandemic, Cummings chose to incorporate materials most readily available to him and positioned these choices visually along the halls at Mosaic Artspace, denoting a sense of moving contrast between the pieces.
Upon his artist talk at Hudson County Community College in Jersey City this past October, Augustine Boyce Cummings was candid with his audience, letting them in on the details of his artistic production and thought process. Speaking of the influence people have on his art, Cummings tells the story of creating a protection amulet through his work, Age of Faith, after his daughter was born and points to a loving depiction of the famed Toy Story ball alongside a portrait of his little girl in the work. It’s a piece composed of found objects, love, and intention.
“I like to be all encompassing as much as I can.”
Augustine moved to New York City in 1996 and notes how powerfully the experience has impacted him since - he talks about street art and graffiti culture, basketball, and the Black experience. He goes on to illustrate a time when he lived in residency in Italy and felt a lack of connection to his people and rectified the situation by creating a painting of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to live alongside him in a foreign land. I loved this idea and thought it was something a creative would do to make life more liveable. He draws connections in his work, Circus [2023, 60’x70’] to his African ancestry by incorporating fringe that resembles tribal motifs, textures that emulate African skin, and tapestries evocative of a lion’s mane. These are the lengths to which Cummings will strive to recall the influences of his people and culture, and how deeply he feels connected to these things.
MLK, Augustine Boyce Cummings, 2018, Ink, collage, graphite, conte', collage, synthetic polymer, archival cotton paper, 40”x64”, image from Mosaic Artspace official website.
He speaks about his work, Sophistry [2009-2020], and explains how the piece is a collection of smaller sketchbook drawings, positioned together to develop a larger concept. Cummings says the drawings were ‘ripped apart and reassembled like a mosaic.’ He points to the imperfect alignment of some portions of the work making it clear that small imperfections make the final product true.
[Sophistry / noun; something that sounds more real than the truth but is actually a lie.]
