who?
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Justin Kane Elder is a multidisciplinary artist born in 1978 and raised in the rural countryside of Washington State. Much of his youth was devoted to skateboarding, snowboarding, and surfing at a high level. Just as a professional snowboarding career was beginning to take shape, a freak accident left him with a broken back and nearly paralyzed. The injury became a turning point, steering him back to his first love: art. He went on to earn a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts in 2001.
After graduation, Justin worked as a master carpenter until the 2008 housing crash pushed him to fully commit to life as an artist. Combining his background in art and construction, he has since developed a prolific and diverse body of work that spans private residences, small businesses, and large corporations. His projects range from murals, sculptures, and paintings to design work for restaurants, snowboards, surfboards, and apparel. His art has appeared in galleries, museums, festivals, and public spaces across the U.S. and Canada, as well as in national advertising campaigns, magazines, newspapers, and television.
Painting, sculpture, music, video, writing, design, and philosophy all inform Justin’s evolving creative practice—an adaptive, interdisciplinary approach in constant pursuit of novelty and meaning.
why?
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Ok, here’s the microphone. What do you wanna say? You get a brush and some paint. Put it on anything—fabric, paper, wood. Make it interesting, or we’re moving on. It’s a space filled with a thousand words but only room for one.
It’s complex to explain one’s work, especially when you’ve only got 30 seconds before the elevator doors open. I create to be of service—to give back what’s been given, to pass the torch. That’s why. It’s breathing, a root function, a baseline I wither without. At best, it’s me—a work in progress. I suppose that’s all of us: the whole beautiful, wretched mess. Here’s my report.
This work is all of my experience in one enchilada—sorrow, joy, emptiness, gratitude, humor, death, survival. Anything goes. It reunites the past with the present while holding hands with the future. It’s cheap and timeless, comfortable and painful. A whole voice that knows the highest highs and lowest lows. The memory of a family reunion dinner. Me killing the magician, pulling the curtain back to show you the world through my eyes.
Mine is a genuine voice speaking to you. Listen or don’t. Let it help you understand. I don’t make this work—we do: family, friends, the world. I’m just leaving a message.
A complex amalgamation of everything. A novelty seeker’s diary. A portrait, a landscape, a still life, a sculpture, a verse—or D. all of the above. Take what you will. I have.
curriculum vitae
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JUSTIN KANE ELDER
Born 1978 Everett, WA
Resides in Richmond, IN
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Education
2002 · BFA, Painting & Sculpture, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA
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Solo Exhibitions
2023 · Lightscapes, Stone Way Auto, Seattle, WA
2010–2023 · Portraits, Revel, Seattle, WA
2019 · 9Teen, 9th & Thomas, Seattle, WA
2016 · 6Teen, White Walls Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015 · nineteen85, Axis Gallery, Seattle, WA
2014 · Mixed, Gauntlet Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014 · Nature, Axis Gallery, Seattle, WA
2013 · Mixed, Skillet, Ballard, Seattle, WA
2012 · Portraits, Café Medina, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2011 · Portraits, OtherCoast Café, Seattle, WA
2011 · Manimal, Evo, Seattle, WA
2011 · Portraits, Johnston Architects, Seattle, WA
2011 · Portraits, Café Fiore, Seattle, WA
2011 · Animals, Hi-Life, Seattle, WA
2011 · People, Skillet, Capitol Hill, Seattle, WA
2011 · Portraits, Café Medina, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2010 · Manimal, Gainsbourg Lounge, Seattle, WA
2010 · Manimal, Bherd Gallery, Seattle, WA
2009 · Humans, Cupcake Royale (Madrona, Capitol Hill, Ballard, West Seattle), Seattle, WA
2009 · Icons, Deli Clothing Boutique, Downtown, Seattle, WA
2008 · Bainbridge Island Art Walk, Fairbank Construction, Bainbridge Island, WA
Group Exhibitions
2025 · Drawings, Oblivion Cinema and Arts, Richmond, IN
2025 · Bainbridge Island Art Walk, Fairbank Construction, Bainbridge Island, WA
2025 · Biennial IPAPA/OPAS Paint Out, Richmond Art Museum, Richmond, IN
2023 · Lab Test 002, 9th & Thomas, Seattle, WA
2023 · One Foot Forward, Martin & MacArthur, Wailea, HI
2018 · Summer Dreams, Winston Wachter, Seattle, WA
2017 · Trump Show, Bonfire Gallery, Seattle, WA
2017 · Stack, The Vatican, Studio E Gallery, Seattle, WA
2017 · Future Machine, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA
2017 · Wolf Temple, Out of Site Art Fair, Seattle, WA
2016 · Star Wars Show, White Walls Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015 · Portraits, LA Art Show, Gauntlet Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015 · Family Portrait, Heiner Residence, Port Ludlow, WA
2014 · Humans, Gauntlet Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014 · Portraits, Scope Art Fair, Gauntlet Gallery, Miami, FL
2014 · B.O.D 4, Piranha Shop, Seattle, WA
2014 · B.O.D 4, Nemo Design, Portland, OR
2014 · B.O.D 4, Gauntlet Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014 · B.O.D 4, AR4T Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
2013 · B.O.D 3, Nemo Design, Portland, OR
2013 · B.O.D 3, Piranha Shop, Seattle, WA
2013 · B.O.D 3, The Holding Company, Los Angeles, CA
2012 · Tanks and Helmets, Neumos, Seattle, WA
2012 · America, AR4T Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
2011 · Portraits, Bherd Gallery, Seattle, WA
2011 · Good Omens, 619 Building, Seattle, WA
2010 · Piranha Show, Piranha Shop, Seattle, WA
2010 · American Nature, Piranha Shop, Seattle, WA
2009 · Icons, Deli Clothing Boutique, Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA
Public Art & Commissions
2024 · Meadow, 9th & Thomas, Seattle, WA
2023 · Lightscapes, Stone Way Auto, Seattle, WA
2023 · Stone-Cage, Stone Way Auto, Seattle, WA
2023 · Flowers Connect Mural, Stone Way Auto, Seattle, WA
2020 · Together We Stand Mural, Cedar Speedster, Seattle, WA
2018 · Art Series, Zillow HQ, Seattle, WA
2018 · Dress Up, The Oculus, World Trade Center, New York, NY
2018 · Interior Installations, T-Mobile HQ, Bellevue, WA
2018 · Installation Series, East Trading Co., Seattle, WA
2018 · Temple, The Dynasty Room, Seattle, WA
2018 · Wolf Temple Mural, Winston Wachter Gallery, Seattle, WA
2018 · Hard Drive, Dell Computers, Round Rock, TX
2017 · Boxes, Amazon Troy Block, Seattle, WA
2017 · Treehouse, IDS Festival, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2017 · Steph Curry, Under Armour, Baltimore, MD
2017 · Fountains, Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto, ON, Canada
2017 · Rocketman, Oasis, Seattle, WA
2016 · Waterfall, Vancouver Aquarium, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2016 · Barrels, Alki Beach, Seattle, WA
2016 · Basquiat, Creative Live HQ, San Francisco, CA
2016 · Vortex, IDS Festival, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2016 · Soundwave, Facebook HQ, Seattle, WA
2016 · Target, Amazon Troy Block, Seattle, WA
2016 · Viral Video, Seattle Seahawks, Seattle, WA
2015 · Container, Sellen Construction, Seattle, WA
2015 · Series, Queen West Animal Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
2015 · Yurt, REI Flagship Store, Seattle, WA
2015 · Voyage, Carlile Room, Seattle, WA
2014 · Turbodream Snowboard, K2 Snowboards, Seattle, WA
2014 · Craig Kelly Mural, Burton Cabin, Baldface Lodge, Nelson, BC, Canada
2014 · Installation Series, Trove, Seattle, WA
2014 · Bakery, Evo HQ, Portland, OR
2014 · Series, Via 6, Seattle, WA
2013 · Boat, Westward, Seattle, WA
2013 · Trailer, Skillet, Ballard, Seattle, WA
2013 · Elevators, Greenfire Campus, Seattle, WA
2013 · Sign, Russell's Tavern, Seattle, WA
2013 · Murals, Evo Properties, Seattle, WA
2013 · Turbodream Snowboard, K2 Snowboards, Seattle, WA
2012 · Timeline, Evo HQ, Seattle, WA
2012 · Josh, Eltana, Fremont, Seattle, WA
2012 · Jewelry Sign, Joule, Seattle, WA
2010 · Crossword, Eltana, Capitol Hill, Seattle, WA
Collections
2024 · Meadow, 9th & Thomas, Seattle, WA
2024 · Animals, Revel, Seattle, WA
2023 · Lightscapes, Stone Way Auto, Seattle, WA
2017 · Future Machine, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA
2015 · Bear, Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA
2015 · Ram, Earls Restaurant Group, Denver, CO
2014 · Tiger, Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA
2007 · Portrait of a House, Richard & Elizabeth Hedreen Collection, Seattle, WA
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Bibliography & Talks
2024 · Creative Director, Stone Way Auto, Seattle, WA
2018 · Guest Speaker, Spotify Creative Workshop, Santa Barbara, CA
2017 · Future Machine Discussions I–V, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA
2017 · Creative Mornings, Georgetown, Seattle, WA
2017 · S.E.D.G. Lecture, Seattle Convention Center, Seattle, WA
2017 · Panel, IDS Festival, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2016 · Design Rebels, Gray Magazine #29, Seattle, WA
2016 · Panel, IDS Festival, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2016 · Basquiat Video, Creative Live HQ, San Francisco, CA
2015 · Beautiful Explosion, City Arts Magazine, Seattle, WA
2014 · Good Life, Gray Magazine #40, Seattle, WA
2014 · Art Zone, TV episode, Seattle Channel, 6/6/14, Seattle, WA
2014 · Hot New Next, Gray Magazine #19, Seattle, WA
2011 · Live Painting, Evo 10-Year Anniversary, Seattle, WA
2008 · Family Portrait, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, Kingston, WA
2002 · BFA Show, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA