About

I'm Justin Bilyeu, an American artist living and working in Lisbon, Portugal. My work is rooted in figurative art, but I don't feel especially interested in staying faithful to one medium or style. I work in oil, acrylic, pastel, and digital media, following an idea wherever it seems to want to go.

Art has always been part of my life, although I stepped away from it for many years after high school. Returning to it has felt less like picking up where I left off and more like discovering an entirely new language. I'm drawn to subjects that intrigue me, challenge me, make me laugh, or occasionally make me a little uncomfortable.

Much of my work centers on people: gesture, expression, intimacy, identity, memory, and the small moments that can carry more emotional weight than they first appear to. Sometimes the work remains quiet and observational. Other times it slips toward abstraction, surrealism, or something slightly stranger.

My process usually begins with curiosity. An image, pose, color combination, memory, or odd little idea sends me down a rabbit hole, and the finished piece is often somewhere I didn't expect to end up. Increasingly, I'm interested in allowing more of that process to remain visible through brushwork, texture, broken color, incomplete edges, and the tension between careful observation and suggestion.

When I'm not making art, I'm usually exploring Portugal with my husband, Alex, or being supervised by Biscuit and Pippin, who have very strong opinions about how my time should be spent.

Thanks for spending a little time with my work.

Justin Bilyeu - Lisbon, Portugal