Rusty's artwork can be described as kind of postmodern mannerism in which qualities of artificiality, compression of space, and exaggerated grandeur, are deliberately concocted into bizarre and playful art objects.

Since 1985 Rusty has been experimenting with three dimensional works called corner paintings. Designed to hang in the corner of the room, these corners have unique visual qualities in that they appear to change and distort depending on the proximity, position and height of the viewer.

Rusty's paintings can be viewed as ironic commentaries on the elitism of art. A mixture of sarcasm and satire, his work consistently parodies themes of historical art, from Baroque portraiture, to banal Romantic landscapes, to the light explorations of the Impressionists, to the assertive brushwork of Expressionism, and even comic book pastiche; his unruly paintings conjure up questions of culture, tradition and aesthetics.