Art runs in Justin Roberts’ blood. His mom works as a graphic designer, and growing up, he once watched his dad, a self-employed fine artist, pinstripe an old motorcycle. As a child, Roberts attended Saturday morning art classes at Kent State. Still, he wasn’t sold on making art his life until late in high school, when he stumbled upon surrealism. The 24-year-old Kent-based artist draws inspiration from other surreal artists like Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and Alex Grey, but most of his pieces are heavily influenced by music, especially of the progressive or psychedelic rock genre, be it Pink Floyd, King Crimson or Jimi Hendrix. “[My work] is an illustration of sound — giving music a setting, a place where the bass, treble, beat and rhythm are represented as shapes,” Roberts said. Surrealist art was originally founded upon principles presented by Sigmund Freud, but Roberts has always joked that his art comes from “Floyd, not Freud.” He likened it to the way Roger Dean’s album art was a reflection of Yes’s music. But music only serves as a base for Roberts’ work. Next, you’ll want to throw in a substantial amount of wavelengths, radio waves and radiation — elements of a more scientific field. “A lot of the subject matter in my work is defying the laws of gravity or breaking the laws of physics,” he said. If you’re having a hard time visualizing that, think apocalypse, with skies turning green and solids turning to liquids and floating away. Roberts says his most popular pieces are the ones with distorted people. His painting “Bleeding Earth” features a figure made up of bubbles evaporating into the air. Finally, Roberts uses a sense of nature as the final thread that ties his creations together. In the same way that he uses bright sunsets to celebrate a world untouched by humans, Roberts also toys with the idea of living in a destructive world. “I like to make it kind of a question of reality. What keeps everything in its natural order and what chaos can break that apart?” he said. “Or, with the music tying back into it, what keeps everything to a steady beat in nature?” To hear Roberts describe his work is one thing, but to actually see it is entirely another. Yet like that band you thought you didn’t know until someone pointed out the hit that everybody knows, you’ve probably seen at least one of Roberts’s pieces and not even realized it. His work is displayed everywhere from the Standing Rock art gallery in Kent to the Summa Wellness Center in Hudson and B-Sides Liquor Lounge in Cleveland. You’ve also probably walked past his booth at Kent festivals like the Heritage Fest and Art in the Park. (He won’t be at the Heritage Fest this year, but he hopes to make September’s Art in the Park.) For now, Roberts is focusing on his live paintings, which actually give viewers the chance to see him complete an entire piece during a band’s set. He creates the piece based on the band’s sound and the vibe of whole show. “Since the studio work is based around music, I thought it would be a cool type of performance art to paint to live music,” he said. Roberts started doing the performances about a year ago, and to date, he’s done almost 40 shows with bands such as Tropidelic, Simeon Soul Charger and Aliver Hall. He’s currently averaging about one show per week. Most of the performances are done just to enhance the event, but Roberts recently donated a piece for a Japan benefit he did with Evan Evolution at the Stone Tavern in Kent. Live painting shows aside, Roberts fills his free time with custom orders that he and a few representatives bring in. Because he and his dad both work with customs and commissions, they’ll occasionally bounce ideas off each other and ask if something looks right. “A family-based gallery is always in our plans, but if anyone has wall space I’m up for displaying some work,” Roberts said. “Any exposure and any hustle to make the art work for me.” See Roberts’s work on Facebook (facebook.com/jrobertsart or facebook.com/justinedwardroberts) or at collegepikasso.com. A catalog of work is also available for sale through Hey Now! Entertainment