Contemporary painter Henry Asencio has emerged as one of the most intriguing young artists working today. Avant-garde in execution, his work blends the classical ideals of figurative painting with a unique, contemporary style revered in his art.

As the artist states, “Painting for me is very cathartic and is the most articulate way for me to express my passion and internal dialogues”. Merging introspection and visual spectacle, Asencio’s personal investigations of femininity, spirituality and abstraction possess the power to transform today’s ideals of elegance and contemporary sensuality.

In 1996, Asencio’s art was exhibited in Germany and Paris and during 1998 his work was recognized in an art competition in Amsterdam. Earning the prestige of being a first time artist dually awarded with gold and silver medals in two separate divisions, he was acknowledged for self portraiture in oils and work in the acrylic medium. Excelling in his chosen discipline, Asencio graduated with honors from the San Francisco Art Academy in 1999. He was chosen finalist in an Artist’s Magazine competition that same year, again for his portraiture work.

Although he earned a living as a portrait artist early in his career, today, Asencio is “more concerned with creating a mood and pushing the aesthetic rather than achieving a true likeness as the ultimate end”. He claims to be “naturally drawn to paint the human figure for its timeless sensitivity”, and he adds, “nothing inspires me more intensely than the female form”. Noted for the sensual vitality of his work, Ascencio asserts his aim as an artist is to “extract the essence of a mood and create work that is striking and simple yet, sustain its integrity through the subtleties”. Using life as a vehicle to produce his art, Asencio’s work translates an impulse into his own reality on canvas and other surfaces. He has recently begun to paint on board, as the surface is more resilient to his aggressive paint style. The artist prefers to work in oils as “nothing compares to the richness and workability of the oil medium and it fits my technique perfectly”. He frequently works with live models or photographs and will begin a painting with a gesture drawing and then begin to mix colour and apply the paint according to his temperament. Asencio applies the thick paint with a palette knife thereby transforming a traditional painting into one possessing his signature style.

A native of California, today the artist lives and works in his studio near San Jose, north of his birthplace of Los Angeles.