Based in Connecticut, Patrick Alston creates bold abstractions with striking color palettes and dynamic gestures to evoke powerful emotional responses. For Alston, painting is a journey into discovery of the self and one’s place in society, and search for meaning to live and be a part of this world and what it means to be human. His energetic paintings, coupled with thought-provoking titles, invite the viewer to reflect on a range of topics, from the socio- political, to language, to the psychology of color. The selection of his titles is an important aspect of his process. The artist draws on the correlation between image and language, comparing abstraction to that of Black English Vernacular as a form of understanding the complexities of language. Alston was born and raised in the Bronx and lives and works in New Haven.