Devon Reina (b. 1996) is a Brooklyn, New York-based artist and designer. Devon’s cross-disciplinary background inspires his curiosity for materiality and process.

His paintings celebrate a range of versatile media, from thick paint impastos, to expressive ink washes and delicate wax pastel line-work. Across his various bodies of work, Devon is interested in how marks of color can interact with each other to suggest the illusion of depth, movement, or direction.

 

Nemeses Year of Work: 2023 Dimensions: 40 in x 40 in x 1.25 in / 101.6 cm x 101.6 cm x 3.18 cm Materials: Pencil and wax pastel on canvas In “Nemeses”, I wanted to experiment with placing two parts of the canvas in dialogue with one another, allowing them to agree and disagree in terms of color, surface area, and directionality.
Snowflake Year of Work: 2023 Dimensions: 48 in x 48 in x 1.5 in / 121.92 cm x 121.92 cm x 3.81 cm Materials: Wax pastel on canvas My work is a product of my curiosity in the development and design of art-making systems carried out by the body. I’m fascinated by the potential of parameters, seeing them as fertile grounds for discovery, creation, and exploration of the unknown.
Train Leaves the Station Year of Work: 2023 Dimensions: 24 in x 24 in x 1.25 in / 60.96 cm x 60.96 cm x 3.18 cm Materials: Wax pastel on canvas In applying such a procedural approach to the canvas, “Train Leaves the Station” is an attempt at creating a visual language that suggests the passage of time. I like to look at each of the nine interior boxes as little memories, like looking out a train window throughout the journey to capture nine separate views of the horizon.