As soon as Mr. Gersain agreed to answer my questions, I sent them to him. He answered them immediately! I was so excited to have someone else answer my questions, that I begin to read his answers and completely forgot that I did not have any details about Mr. Gersain's actual life. So, when I went back to try and retrieve that information, Mr. Gersain was GONE!! I had no means of contacting him! So, what I do have for you guys is and Interview and that he is a local artist, who once attended Cerritos College. Also, he enjoys reading and is a 49er fan. (I personally root for the Raiders! Go Raiders!--my brother would be proud. Haha). I also have a few pictures of some of his artwork.
Here is the interview:
Q: When did you start making art and why?
A: I have been drawing since a kid, but I was introduced to
paints after High School. I took the beginners painting class at a local
community college. When I first started, I was kind of intimidated. I remember
that in the first class I took everybody was older than me and more experience
with paints and art in general. In that class I met this cat named Eddie
Angels. That dude had mad skill. His work was real colorful and he painted his
figures real loose. He had a real unique style and I was just starting. So, my
work was horrible but I remember seeing this cat Eddie come into class with a
new painting almost everyday. He was real dedicated about his craft. So, I told
myself, “Shit. I’m going be as dope as Eddie.” “hahaha.” Bullshit aside, that’s
why I started painting or at least took it seriously.
Q: What inspires you/ who inspires you?
A: Many things inspire me: everything from music, books,
people, and life experiences or basically how I’m feeling at a certain
moment. You know, sometimes there are
people that come into your life for a brief moment but somehow they left a big
impact in your life. Whether it is the way you think about certain situations
or how you react to things because you have already experienced it with those
people. Those people are the ones who have inspired me the most. When it comes
to artist that have inspired me, I have to say Frida Kahlo, Jose Clemente
Orozco, Alice Neel, Odd Nerdrum, Charles Russell, the list goes on. I like
certain artist either because of their subject matter, how they use their light
source in paintings or just simply for how they paint.
Q: What is your most important artist tool?
A: The brush is probably my most important artist tool. If
you examine a painting you can actually, sometimes, see how the person was
feeling while he/she was painting just by their brush strokes. Every brush
stroke is an emotion. Recently I have been working a lot with my pallet knife;
I like how it free it feels when I’m using it. It just slabs of paint going
straight to the canvas. It’s the same as a brush: you can convey emotion by the
way you apply the paint.
Q: How does your lifestyle influence your work?
A: My current lifestyle is basically one of survival, working
that 9-5 in order to get bills paid, and going to school. Yeah, I think it influences some of my work
like when you’re working that job you don’t like but in the back of your head
you know you have to do it. Sometimes it frustrates me so I just release those
emotions into canvas or sometimes I’m reading about a certain subject in
school. Ideas come from that, too. I would say my past lifestyle probably was a
bigger influence, I was a little more careless and being careless sometimes put
me in certain situations that other people don’t get to experience. When you’re in these situations you see how
society reacts and treats certain people. So, to make a long story short, my
lifestyle gave me an audience because of my lifestyle. I target a certain
audience through my paintings.
Q: How do you feel about your own art? Do you think it is
any good?
A: Sometimes I am working on a piece and I don’t like how
it’s coming out so I erase and draw it over and over again until I feel it’s
good enough. Overall, I like my own artwork. I think it’s dope and I’m not
saying that because I’m big headed or anything like that. I’ve just seen myself
grow as an artist. I have worked hard to get to this level of skill I have,
from the first painting class I took to what I’m doing now. My work just
exploded, subject matter, technique, proportions, but the dopest thing about it
is that I’m still learning.
Q: When do you know when a work is finished?
A: When everything just feels concrete, the closes thing I
can relate to it is when a person is writing a paper. First, you do your rough
draft, then you do a second rough draft, and the final paper you decide to turn
in is the most concrete. When you feel real good about it and you’re like
“Yeah, I killed this shit. I’m about to pass this class.” Hahaha. Yeah, when
everything just feels solid and there is not one section of your painting that
needs more attention than the other unless it was done intentionally.
Q: What kind of technique do you use?
A: I like painting wet on wet. Most people paint a section
and let it dry, especially when you’re working with oils. But, I like to keep
the paint wet, letting the colors blend into one another. Recently, I have been
applying a thick coat of gesso on the canvas before I start painting on it,
giving it different textures. I always like to try new things, manipulating the
paint in different ways.
Q: What do you think is the role of the artist in society?
A: Make people aware, make people uncomfortable, and take
them out of their comfort zone. Well, at least that’s the role I have taken as
an artist. I use art as a form of therapy to a certain point. I am a real quiet
person, so, I hold a lot of shit in. So, when I learned how to paint, I just
released everything through the paints. I continued doing that, and after a
while I realized I could use this as a tool.
Q: In the future, do you see people appreciating your art or
hating it?
A: Hahaha. I don’t know. I think there’ll be as many people
hating it, as there’ll be liking it. That’s just the way shit is, though.
Either way, it doesn’t matter to me. I do it as an outlet for myself, although,
sometimes I do paint for a specific audience.
Q: Is there anything you would like the readers to know
about your art or art in general?
A: If it weren’t for art I would probably find myself in a
different life situation. It’s a dope outlet. It trips me out, though, how a
lot of people are like “you’re following
your dreams”. Haha. My dreams don’t have shit to do with art. Haha. That shit
is always funny to me. More than anything, this shit is an outlet to me. Making
art is something that I’m going to continue doing. Regardless if I stop
painting today, I’ll pick up the brush later on in life. Art is just something
I never have to let go of.
Pictures of his work:
So, this is all I have for you guys right now. I hope you enjoyed it! I hope to post more artist in the near future. Thank you for your time and have a lovely Sunday!
-Denise
Ps.“Every brush stroke is an emotion”--Edson Gersain
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