MAY 2020 - HASLER GOMEZ
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Hello, my name’s Häsler R. Gómez and I’m originally from Guatemala, but I grew up in Reno, Nevada, where I currently live and work. I have a BFA in Studio Art and a BA in Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno and about ¾ of a BA in Creative Writing (fun fact: I was originally studying to be a Neurosurgeon). While I describe myself as a sculptor my practice touches on photography, performance, drawing, audio, installation, and writing. When I’m not in my studio I can be found cooking, reading, playing with my neurotic pup Linus, and thrift shopping for chairs. I love a good chair.
Hello, my name’s Häsler R. Gómez and I’m originally from Guatemala, but I grew up in Reno, Nevada, where I currently live and work. I have a BFA in Studio Art and a BA in Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno and about ¾ of a BA in Creative Writing (fun fact: I was originally studying to be a Neurosurgeon). While I describe myself as a sculptor my practice touches on photography, performance, drawing, audio, installation, and writing. When I’m not in my studio I can be found cooking, reading, playing with my neurotic pup Linus, and thrift shopping for chairs. I love a good chair.
Where are you and what are you currently working on?
I’m currently in the outer Northwest part of Reno, Nevada called Stead. I’m fortunate enough to have a 220 sqft home studio which has proven to be even more invaluable in times like this. I have been working on an ongoing series called “IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY” for close to two years now and am currently working on new pieces for a solo show in Portland, Oregon happening later this year at Third Room. Although I have some of the work finished, I’m still in a state of exploration, as you’ll be able to see from the images of my studio, because it’s never this clean. Things are still a little hazy, the image of the installation or the narrative that’s guiding my thinking has yet to fully materialize. I’m currently exploring new materials: cast sand, encased styrofoam, liquid latex, hydrocal, and bleach. But the two pieces I’m actively working on are two styrofoam forms that contain and conceal photographs of my great grandmother and grandmother who’s tombs I may never get to visit since I am undocumented and at this time cannot leave the country. The work in “IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY” memorializes the stories and people that are often ignored as well as creates a bridge to fill the voids that exist between the historic past and my current present. I very much think of this work as reverse archeology: creating contemporary relics that simultaneously make reference to the past and present while also looking to the future.
I’m currently in the outer Northwest part of Reno, Nevada called Stead. I’m fortunate enough to have a 220 sqft home studio which has proven to be even more invaluable in times like this. I have been working on an ongoing series called “IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY” for close to two years now and am currently working on new pieces for a solo show in Portland, Oregon happening later this year at Third Room. Although I have some of the work finished, I’m still in a state of exploration, as you’ll be able to see from the images of my studio, because it’s never this clean. Things are still a little hazy, the image of the installation or the narrative that’s guiding my thinking has yet to fully materialize. I’m currently exploring new materials: cast sand, encased styrofoam, liquid latex, hydrocal, and bleach. But the two pieces I’m actively working on are two styrofoam forms that contain and conceal photographs of my great grandmother and grandmother who’s tombs I may never get to visit since I am undocumented and at this time cannot leave the country. The work in “IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY” memorializes the stories and people that are often ignored as well as creates a bridge to fill the voids that exist between the historic past and my current present. I very much think of this work as reverse archeology: creating contemporary relics that simultaneously make reference to the past and present while also looking to the future.
|
|
What’s your studio routine like? Any zany habits?
At this point it’s slow. My practice most often can be divided into two categories: casting and encasing. When casting, I either cast directly off of objects (such as using dust-masks as the mold to create a positive of the negative inside of the mask or make molds to cast their facsimiles such as casting bolillo bread loafs out of dental hydrocal. Likewise, when I encase objects under layers of different materials it’s either to change their forms or alter their surfaces, such as coating photographs in latex so the pigment cracks and begins to look like skin or encasing broken cinder blocks under layers of painters plastic to obscure their objecthood and alter their form. I’m not sure if I have any zany habits, but I am very particular about always playing music and drinking coffee while working. One of the major components of my practice is research. I’m constantly reading theory and absorbing as much art history as I can grasp. As someone who doesn’t really have access to their history, I find it crucial to be able to trace the lineage of my art practice. I don’t believe we work in vacuums and to a certain extent I don’t believe in originality, so I think it’s important to know what came before us, but also what’s happening around us.
At this point it’s slow. My practice most often can be divided into two categories: casting and encasing. When casting, I either cast directly off of objects (such as using dust-masks as the mold to create a positive of the negative inside of the mask or make molds to cast their facsimiles such as casting bolillo bread loafs out of dental hydrocal. Likewise, when I encase objects under layers of different materials it’s either to change their forms or alter their surfaces, such as coating photographs in latex so the pigment cracks and begins to look like skin or encasing broken cinder blocks under layers of painters plastic to obscure their objecthood and alter their form. I’m not sure if I have any zany habits, but I am very particular about always playing music and drinking coffee while working. One of the major components of my practice is research. I’m constantly reading theory and absorbing as much art history as I can grasp. As someone who doesn’t really have access to their history, I find it crucial to be able to trace the lineage of my art practice. I don’t believe we work in vacuums and to a certain extent I don’t believe in originality, so I think it’s important to know what came before us, but also what’s happening around us.
What are your favorite materials to work with?
Plaster, plastic sheeting, concrete, polymeric sand, hydrocal, pink insulation foam, polyurethane, construction line, wall studs, and objects from my personal life.
Plaster, plastic sheeting, concrete, polymeric sand, hydrocal, pink insulation foam, polyurethane, construction line, wall studs, and objects from my personal life.
|
|
|
How has your work changed over the years?
I’ve learned to trust the process a lot more, and by that I mean, I allow myself a good amount of freedom to “dick around” in the studio. A lot of my work starts out as accidents: immediate, unmeditated actions and it’s in those pure gestures that I find the most potential for poetry and poignancy. My work by its very nature is reductive, quiet, and austere, but saturated with emotion, intentionality, and honesty. I’ve learned that for me and my practice the meat is in those simple, often pathetic, powerless gestures: from casting 7/11 cups to mark the death of a loved one, to casting the imprint of my body while praying in sand, to creating a memorial out of a bucket and handmade pavers, it’s in those seemingly insignificant actions that I think my work finds its power; I always say it’s like a silent scream--an oxymoron, but a poetic oxymoron.
I’ve learned to trust the process a lot more, and by that I mean, I allow myself a good amount of freedom to “dick around” in the studio. A lot of my work starts out as accidents: immediate, unmeditated actions and it’s in those pure gestures that I find the most potential for poetry and poignancy. My work by its very nature is reductive, quiet, and austere, but saturated with emotion, intentionality, and honesty. I’ve learned that for me and my practice the meat is in those simple, often pathetic, powerless gestures: from casting 7/11 cups to mark the death of a loved one, to casting the imprint of my body while praying in sand, to creating a memorial out of a bucket and handmade pavers, it’s in those seemingly insignificant actions that I think my work finds its power; I always say it’s like a silent scream--an oxymoron, but a poetic oxymoron.
Who else do you recommend we look at / read / listen to / cook with?
Here’s a short list of names with no contexts, whatsoever: Reese Cooper, Raul Andres Diaz, Christian Warlich, David Getsy, Teresa Margolles, Gordon Hall, Catalina Ouyang, Raul De Lara, Patricia Ayres, Greyson Chance, Jack Ryan, Cowboy Black, Julian Lamadrid, bell hooks, Sasha Sloan, Yebba, Azza El Siddique, EJ Hill.
Here’s a short list of names with no contexts, whatsoever: Reese Cooper, Raul Andres Diaz, Christian Warlich, David Getsy, Teresa Margolles, Gordon Hall, Catalina Ouyang, Raul De Lara, Patricia Ayres, Greyson Chance, Jack Ryan, Cowboy Black, Julian Lamadrid, bell hooks, Sasha Sloan, Yebba, Azza El Siddique, EJ Hill.
Any exciting projects on the horizon?
My first solo show in Portland, getting back to doing some programming with AVE COLLECTIVE, a collective I founded geared around non-traditional arts programming meant to highlight the lack of representation present in established local gallery systems, curating a show centered around “masculinity,” working on product designs for my design studio HÄSTUDIOS, and possibly doing a collaboration with a small clothing brand based in LA.
My first solo show in Portland, getting back to doing some programming with AVE COLLECTIVE, a collective I founded geared around non-traditional arts programming meant to highlight the lack of representation present in established local gallery systems, curating a show centered around “masculinity,” working on product designs for my design studio HÄSTUDIOS, and possibly doing a collaboration with a small clothing brand based in LA.
|
|
website: http://www.haslergomez.com/
