Dylan Lipsker is exhausted. He's always exhausted, but you wouldn't know that by interacting with him. The Spokane artist has a bubbly personality that manifests as he gushes about each intricate detail of whatever artwork is in front of him. His wardrobe is filled with '90s cartoon nostalgia, such as a Hey Arnold! sweater and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles socks, matching his personality effortlessly.
His art resonates similarly, too. Working with glass and acrylic, Lipsker creates large abstract canvases that seem to pop off the wall. His use of bright color is astounding, but the real meat of Lipsker's work is found in the depth he creates by pouring layer after layer of acrylic resin atop each piece.
Beyond the outward appearance, personality and art style, however, is a man still dealing with the effects of a life-threatening accident. About 16 years ago, Lipsker crashed an ATV head-first into a tree, breaking nearly half the bones in his body, puncturing both lungs and his liver, and experiencing a severe concussion.
While many of his physical injuries healed, other damage done to his brain and body persisted.
"Long story short, I lost the ability to have REM sleep, so trying to get a night's rest is a struggle," Lipsker explains. "While everyone else in the world goes to bed, I'm still awake."
REM, or rapid eye movement, is the fourth and final stage of sleep that makes up about a quarter of the night for most people. But Lipsker lost more than that. Due to his spinal injuries, he quickly loses feeling in his arms and legs when lying down, making rest one of the least relaxing activities. He gets about three hours of sleep each night — less than half of what's recommended for adults. However, he turned this personal adversity into an opportunity.
"Without any of that adversity, I don't think I would have gotten to the place that I needed to be," he says. "And now, knowing the end result, I'd say bring it on!"
After realizing a good night's rest wasn't in store for him, Lipsker decided to pass the time with art. Without any formal experience other than a grade-school art class, he began working in 2016 with little more than determination and optimism.
"That first night I made hideous art — I mean, it sucked," Lipsker says. "But, I loved it. It was the greatest thing I had ever done."
From that moment he decided that while the rest of the world slept, he would make art.
Lipsker spent every night of the next year honing his craft. He's made more than 500 pieces of art since.
Each artwork is made in a unique process, but Lipsker often starts by cutting pieces of glass to become a background. Sometimes he makes geometric patterns; other times he tries something organic, like jellyfish. Next he pours acrylic resin — normally used for industrial purposes such as in coatings and adhesives — to seal in the glass.
Acrylic resin is much different than epoxy resin, which is often used in art to make objects or add a shiny finish on a painting, because it can be reshaped by heat after it's set, something Lipsker does often to create undulating textures on the surface using a heat gun. He can also add more glass or materials between resin layers.
Before he thought his work was ready to show anyone, Lipsker was approached by an old friend from Gordy's Sichuan Cafe, where he once worked, asking if Lipsker would like to hang his art at the South Hill restaurant. Lipsker reluctantly agreed, showcasing his art publicly for the first time in February 2018.
Two weeks later, he had requests from several others to show his art at their businesses.
"The first 40 or so places I showed at all asked me," Lipsker says. "It was that moment that I knew this is what I'm supposed to be doing."
After spending years working from home to fill restaurants and offices with his art, Lipsker opened his Big City Art Studio & Gallery in mid-2023.
The Washington Street gallery sits inside a nondescript six-unit plaza under the rail viaduct in downtown Spokane. The small space is split into three rooms; two are filled wall-to-wall with Lipsker's art. The third area is his working studio.
The pieces on display there are vivid, colorful creations. Some incorporate iridescent and holographic glass that distorts depending on where the viewer stands. Lipsker uses color-changing lights to amplify this effect.
"Because they're built on glass, with a mirrored back, the light's going to travel through the paint, pick up the tone [of the light] and actually create this analogous effect," he says. "It's more than just what you see, it's something you can also talk to someone about."
When Lipsker sells one of his creations locally, he offers to install it for the buyer. That way, he can focus on placement and lighting to ensure the conversation he's intent on sparking with his art.
Past the deep thought into how folks might interact with his creations, Lipsker's work also incorporates a sense of humor. One particular piece, a large canvas of 108 reflective tiles, has stickers with crude and cheeky messages. The tiles are arranged so that if the viewer sits back and follows the colors, they'll find words like "sin" and "a penis." (He's also created a series of similar pieces more appropriate for all ages.)
"These are essentially created to make you laugh, so if you stand there to stop and read it, you're going to start giggling when you realize what it says," Lipsker says. "It should hopefully start to close this gap that exists saying [art] has to be snooty, or it has to be any specific way to be considered fine art."
Pieces like this, depending on size, often take Lipsker weeks to complete, even though he's spending more time on his art than most people have in their waking days. But it's all worth it to him.
Lipsker is celebrating the first anniversary of his Big City Art gallery on Sept. 1. Meanwhile, he's working to split his gallery and studio into two locations after acquiring space at 1107 W. First Ave., which he plans to open as his main gallery in the coming months. The location on Washington will be his primary studio.
"Every time I get more space, I'm able to experiment a little more and bring my work closer to that next level," Lipsker says, speculating on his dream to have galleries across the country. "I plan on always being here in Spokane because I love this place, but this is just the beginning." ♦
Big City Art Studio & Gallery • 164 S. Washington St., Suite 500 • Hours vary • dlipart.com; Instagram: @bigcityartstudio • 509-499-9152
