Bayard Hollins' work explores the link between abstraction and figurative representation. Although the lines back to classical realism can be traced, Hollins' approach is absolutely modern. Spatial qualities and momentum are combined to exalt the rawness of nature. Earthly references to known objects and forms are allowed to remain undefined, demanding the viewer to engage his or her own imagination.Bayard uses what he sees as a starting point. Sometimes he uses aerial photos. He puts as much as he can on the canvas initially and then subtracts, scraping down and repeating and seeing what works together. He works on intuition, capturing the essences. Bayard explores the underlying energy and emotion of the physical world.He employs large broad planes of tone and color, often working with Tribal influences. Passages in the work have Indians and animals, planes and cars, houses- what we see is 50% tied to our imagination and how we perceive the history of a place. Bayard contemplates relationships of how we are looking at the planet we are living on. How urban areas connect to agriculture and agriculture to wilderness and the tension of this relationship interests.With a start in classical realism, when he moved out west, Bayard's work had a profound shift. Influenced by the large spaces, he was prompted to shift into more contemporary and abstract modes of expression. In his studio work, he varies projects in the studio based on his insights and emotions.A Colorado artist, Bayard has a long-standing connection to California's central coast. Born into a family of artists and writers, he grew up in the Santa Ynez Valley on a ranch once owned by renowned artist Channing Peake. Bayard counts among his early inspiration, Russell and Remington. His artistic life was changed when his mother gave him a book of Fritz Scholder's work. Young Bayard decided then that art would be his destiny. Fully supported by his parents, Bayard received a traditional academic education at the Florence Institute of Art, also studying in France, Spain, and New York. Bayard changed artistic direction upon arriving in Basalt, Colorado, ready to expand his body of work, he began to explore contemporary technique adding abstraction and expressionist themes to his painting and sculpture.