GourdonR
Biography:
GourdonR is a genderfluid artist and graphic designer who enjoys drawing non-binary creatures. GourdonR is also what they call an "illiterate poet".
In their spare time, they like to represent melancholy and daily dissatisfaction with badly written words and drawings. This serves as their way to share personal reflections on different topics.
They also love playing with established rules as a way to deconstruct social norms.
Creative Process:
"It's kind of strange because I don't really think I have a creative process. I'm very spontaneous when I create. If I plan or have any sort of structure I loose my inital idea. I don't remember who or what it is I wanted to draw. The more I think about what I should do the less inspiration I have in actually creating. This is also the case when it comes to the amount of time I put into a project. We are often told that if we put more time in something it becomes better, that it is somehow priceless, but this is not how I see creation. The projects I love the most are the ones created out of spontinuity. Create without thinking about the time or wether or not the idea is good or bad. The spontaneous aspect gives me honesty in my work.
I like making a mess when I create. Making a mess often leads to new techniques. At the moment I focus on working with acrylics, but I have started working with dry pastels, coloured pencils, and markers. The base varies between wood, cardboard, fabric, and styrofoam. I like to tell myself that it is not the medium that gives value to the work, but the emotion and the importance the artist puts into it.
I like the idea of painting pieces of the soul. In one of the first magazines I was published in I described my paintings as 'twists of the soul'. The inner fatigue of the outside world. It makes me think of stage shows like drag and the circus, how these are places where you perform your gender but also your inner self. When it comes to my paintings, I am inspired by the queer community and even more so by queer non-binary artists like Nathan Selighini (no gender) or Coyote Park (they/him). I have a special affection for artist Rose Butch (they/them), one of the first people to show drag-influenced art. The principle of the 'freak' shows something I find inspiring. The freak is inspiring. It is beautiful for people to show themselves for who they truly are. Exaggerating their features in an attractive extravagance. Assume and make your pride what the genre takes for a monstrosity. I think that's also why I like artists like Izumi Miyazaki i(she/her) or Johannes J. Jaruraak (She/her/he/him) who plays with bodies to make them disturbing.
Celaeno:
Name of a Harpies in the Greek Mythology.
Acrylic on rigid cardboard
Size: 23"/31"
Corinthian :
Name of a Lamiai (Vampire Daemons) in Greek mythology. Known to seduce the handsome youth Menippos.
Acrylic on wood.
Size: 20"/15"
Aello:
It's the name of a Harpies in the Greek mythology sibling of Celaeno.
Acrylic on rigid cardboard
Size: 26"/31"
Echion:
Name of a giant in Greek mythology.
Watercolor and india ink.
Stheno:
Name of one of the three Gorgons in Greek mythology.
Acrylic/ dry pastels on styrofoam
Size: 25"/ 20"