Chris Spuglio's daring, multilayered explorations into such raw emotions as rage, loss and despair straddle the line between abstraction and surrealism, while also taking a near-sculptural approach to the canvas itself. He scratches into his paintings, adding mixed-media textures, and portrays objects such as nails and stones against turbulent backgrounds of deep crimson, aquamarine or midnight blue. He makes particular use of strong vertical lines, whether in the form of savage lightning-like jagged streaks, or thorny strokes from the tip of his brush. The theme of death-within-life is strong in Chris's work, as he frequently uses dreams as raw material and chooses subjects which suggest a deep absence.

There is a brooding, severe subtext to Chris's work beyond the complex visuals of his paintings, and it is the skilled creation of deep-toned backgrounds in their support of his ecstatic brushwork which creates this pervasive tension. As Chris Spuglio endures the artist's turbulent emotional territory, he presents us with his impressions of that rough terrain.