Brian Gallego, 23, a Green River Community College graduate and University of Washington student, displays his art at a personal art show hosted by Kona Kai coffee.

Gallego’s interest and experience in art dates back to childhood when he attended art schools in his hometown of Popayan, Colombia.

Now studying architecture at UW, Gallego blurs the line between the creativity of art and the rigidity of architecture in terms of space.

“Architecture and painting differ in many things but complement each other,” Gallego said. “The knowledge that I have about painting has facilitated me to see the effect of light and time in the space, fundamental concepts in architecture. Architecture is my major and my passion as well as painting. It is like having two favorite things that make you complete, and I could not live without one of them.”

Looking for a space to showcase his artwork, Gallego secured a date and time at Kona Kai coffee on Saturday, March 23, and in less than two months, the entire event was planned and executed.

“(It was) a perfect location with a good amount of space for me to hang a few pieces and have people come over,” Gallego said. “At the end, everything turned out excellent, (and) everybody came, I had really interesting conversations with people, and I sold some of my work, which was incredible.”