Dominic Killiany

Boston, MA

Dominic Killiany’s (he/him/his) art is his voice. He is nonverbal and rather than converse with words, he speaks through a colorful visual language. Dominic’s thoughts, emotions and expression are represented through a symbolic language of color, texture, composition and material. Through the interplay between light and dark, geometric shapes, letters and numbers, he transforms his observations and solitude into a fluid language of abstract expressionism.

Susan, Dominic’s mother and support has seen Dominic’s work progress over the course of his life and offers insight on his behalf. She describes that his whole process of creation excites and brings happiness to Dominic. From starting with a reference image or getting inspired by the geometry of a street sign, he is able to evoke scenes naturally. He’ll look at a reference photo once and then sketch the interpretation of what he sees on canvas. Susan further explains “he sees the world differently through art. What he sees is abstract, energetic, and colorful. Sometimes he’s really precise and sometimes the paint is loose and textured. It’s always colorful and happy.”

Ever since the age of three, Dominic has gravitated to drawing. His favorite toy was a magna-doodle which allowed him to create and erase over and over. For hours he would sit and draw. Seeing the progression from experimenting with colors and lines to full scenes of landscapes and cities powerfully tells how finding art is like finding a life-long companion to one’s inner world, a never-ending exploration of growth and potential. It’s clear how working with lines, numbers, and geometry has fed into his views of the world around him and his depictions of buildings and streetscapes with sparkling points of light and wonder.

As a self-taught artist, the imagery and motifs in his works are a product of spending outdoors, listening to music and the structure of numbers and letters. Over the years, Dominic has been encouraged to express himself through painting and to exhibit and sell his works. In 2019, Dominic’s works were chosen to be reproduced in a playground in Danehy Park, Cambridge MA. Dominic’s work has the power to lift spirits, inspire, and serve the public. His mother and support Susan expresses their joint enthusiasm in creating places for the public to enjoy, ponder, and escape into.