BIO • STATEMENT
An early watercolor of the artist at four years of age
- by his uncle Franklin Jespersen
(a successful artist in his own right.)
On-site in the Sangre de Christo Mountains
BIOGRAPHY
Gould’s earliest exposure to fine art, his later university studio & art history classes, and a variety of craftsman-based design/build disciplines (see below) continue to guide his current work.
His uncle, Frank Jespersen (a successful artist and university professor in NYC during the heyday of Ab-Ex and early Pop Art) vacationed with Gould's family regularly and introduced him to basic painting techniques at age four.
However, there was no access to art classes until his freshman year in college. Disenchanted with college and about to drop out, at the last moment he enrolled in a classic "Design 101" class (a "what have I got to lose" moment). This changed his life’s priorities and he then worked to pay his way through college and earn a BFA at the University of Iowa.
Post-university he struggled for the next decade to secure a foothold in the gallery scene while supporting himself working in residential construction, eventually starting a small residential design/build company. During this period he also produced one-of-a-kind furniture, custom cabinetry, retail interiors, and trade-show displays, and ultimately was employed by the Denver Museum of Science and Nature as their Coordinator of Traveling Exhibitions responsible for its constantly rotating exhibits program and information-rich displays.
During the constraints of COVID-19, these artisanal disciplines merged with his more traditional Fine Art practices (he had trained in the "Venetian School" of oil painting - known for utilizing multiple layers/glazes of transparent color) which formed his current unique technical studio work. An austere childhood engendered imaginative - almost fanciful - respect for the most common objects of his early, day-to-day life. Gould's "Museum Exhibition" experience - handling and securely displaying irreplaceable, history-laden artifacts in educational 2D/3D visual presentations - reinforced that imagination with a “sacredness of the object” frame of reference.
This background has led to his current "CONSTRUCT" Series of wall-hung, Bas-Relief assemblages and his "Prophets of Our DNA" Series of paintings.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Recent events: Covid protocols and the passing of both parents – forced restructuring my aesthetics and motivation for art-making. Focus shifted from “bucolic” imagery to my initial concerns and then to a personal “visual response” to society’s current turbulent conditions.
Daily news bytes describing our country’s divisions baffled me. Attempting to explain this constant flow of divergent forces to my surviving parent until her passing - as well as to myself - became a frustrating “fool’s errand”. However, that effort led to investigations, new perceptions, and an unexpected empathy. Various viewpoints and beliefs I had never considered (some prosaic, some unfamiliar, others wildly esoteric) seemed to demand a visual-art response.
By chance I encountered articles on specific genomic research stating we all share 99.6% of the same DNA – only the remaining .4% allows for distinct traits found in one individual but not another. These surprisingly disparate proportions fascinated, especially in the context of innumerable divergent opinions expressed each day. How can we all be so different and at the same time so much alike? I saw this data converging with my own creative efforts and abilities which enforced a need to address these questions in my own way.
As a product of a poor, working class, dysfunctional family, these concerns dovetail with my own life-long struggle to better understand interpersonal relationships. At some level this investigation was simply an extension of my own curiosity & research into myself and my family dynamics. Simultaneously I recognized the conundrums and confusion that my personal opinions might bring to this series. I worked to eliminate any visual bias I might visually instill in these images and thus to allow my viewer a neutral access and their own interpretations.
This demarcation allowed my work to evolve spontaneously with small, colorfully anonymous, figure studies in an equally unidentifiable, “universal” environment. Each is executed with as much technical risk-taking as possible – incorporating spontaneous “mistakes” with intentionally-painted passages. Thus, each is a “one-of-a-kind” artwork - just as each of us are unique.
Images are then purposely paired in diptych format symbolizing our relationships with one another and referencing the role we play in one another’s lives.
My hope/goal for my audience: Contemplate what we all have in common and a greater empathy may return to our relationships and interactions.
YOUTH:
inhabit imagined worlds
invent my personal vision
UNIVERSITY:
discover my creativity
explore possibilities
ADULT:
accept that I do not know
seek personal serenity
TODAY:
remain an eternal student
learn from every painting