Dylan Gordon shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Dylan, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Reading. As well as being one of the main sources of inspiration for me lately, I’ve been finding a lot of joy and peace in the words, imaginations and stories of others.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Dylan Gordon. I was born in South Africa, and currently still live and work here in Pretoria. I am an artist who works mostly in painting, etching and drawing. My work is mostly surreal in nature – drawing lately heavily from various works of literature. As well as from everyday imaginings brought up from the subconscious – evoked from life here in South Africa. My work swings from being deeply personal and relevant to my own life, to being very involved socially or culturally (from an observational standpoint). Occasionally the imagery I’m making takes on a form of some kind of personal mythology- where there exists certain creatures and dreamscapes.
I’m 24 years old and I’m currently working towards my next solo installation of works – which will be a series of oil paintings and copper plate etchings. I’ve always been reluctant to idea of a brand – sometimes to my detriment. However as a young artist, I feel that it’s crucial to be able to move and to explore your work whether it be in style medium, subject matter etc. As an artist at any age I feel this is crucial.
I am a self-taught artist, and have never been formally trained and so art to me has always been a personal thing – and it is my way of experiencing the world and dealing with life as you walk towards it. There are never days off, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
The first time I picked up a pencil, realizing that the possibilities were endless – in what one could draw or create, and how that could affect the world around you in such a profound way. That must’ve been it, realizing that there was a world out there which was and still is mine to explore and which I could be able to share with others.
When you were sad or scared as a child, what helped?
I remember as a child, I use to be terrified of storms. Lightning and thunder and all the rest – the sound of the rain falling hard on our roof. It felt like the world was falling down on me and that I wouldn’t survive the whole ordeal. They still make me a little uneasy to this day. However something that helped a lot, was a trick my Grandmother taught me – which was to count the seconds in between each lightning strike. She told me that each second that passed was how far away the lightning was in Kilometers. 1,2,3,4,5, STRIKE. It was 5km away. I’m not sure if this is actually true. For some reason, it really eased my mind as a child. I think it was the idea of understanding this terrifying thing a little better that made it a little less terrifying. I feel that’s what art is to me, bringing things that scare into the light of understanding to make them less so…in a way.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
I’d like to say so, I think that we all have an inner-world however I haven’t got much to hide and aside from perhaps being a little more placid and reserved. Yes, I’d say so. But it’s a tricky question, even the idea of “the real you”, perplexes me a little.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What are you doing today that won’t pay off for 7–10 years?
Smoking cigarettes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dylangordonart.com
- Instagram: dylangordonart
