Gabriel East

Gutted

30 x 8cm approx

'Gutted' is a fake found artefact from the dream realm my illustrations document. Ceramic and wire.

A Little Bit About The Artist

A Statement From The Artist

As a mixed-media illustrator my work concerns itself with the methods available to me to make external my inner mythologies. Through illustration I aim to recreate these myths, based on my dreams and experiences, and convey the truth of imagination.
My most recent work explores these experiences through the creation of a fantasy realm; presenting observations and recordings of a distant continent. Self-characterised as an anthropologist, I have chronicled the landscape and customs of my dream-civilisation, depicted through monoscenic narratives and unearthed once-coveted artefacts that have now lost their significance to time and reality. I invite viewers to catch a glimpse of the works as I dream, imagine, and re-tell it.

Tell us about a dream you've had.

In my dream I am gliding off a cloud covered mountain to the patchwork quilt of the fields below. However, I've been here before, and I know how this will end. So I rewind the dream and begin again, once again plummeting towards the ground, but this time it is the sea and the land-quilt turns liquid waves, stitches to sea foam as I land. In my dream-logic, this seems the optimal scenario, exactly what I wanted; to be sinking into the green sea.

Except it begins again.

This time there is a wire suspended over the gap I am to cross, and I cling to it, dream-vision narrowed to my disembodied hands and the rope they clutch as I swing across the gulf.
There is no ending, only a leap of faith, an ejection, a tactical crash landing into the sea once again and the solid ground gives way to wave.

What's your favourite movie or tv show?

Stardust.

What is your biggest influence on your practice?

The biggest influences on my practice are magic, nature, and my own imagination. I am fascinated by seemingly-impossible occurrences and in creating imaginary what-if scenarios building on a dream-vision ekphrasism.

Phantasmal Gallery