As you may have noticed, since late June a new guest artist has been contributing his covers to my erotic stories. Matt Gold has already designed the covers for Monarchs, Illusion, Rivals (prologue): "Beta Testing", and The Playground, and folks can enjoy his work through the end of the summer.
But who is he? What other kinds of art does he do, when he´s not contributing to the erotic stories on my site?
Below is a transcript of a recent interview he and I did. Enjoy!
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Christian Pan: Let us know a bit about your background. How did you first get into creating visual art? Did you go to school for it?
Matt Gold: I initially started art in high school, before eventually getting a scholarship to attend the Columbus College Of Art and Design. I turned this down in order to pursue music, though, as I am a singer/songwriter/pianist, and felt more driven in that direction.
CP: Please let us know a bit about your creative process, how you make your art. Where do you find inspiration? How do you get from an idea to completing a piece?
MG: My process is very neurotic; my brain simply has too many ideas!
Usually, I get inspired by another piece of art that I see, or just something else that I like. This leads me to do a mini series of images, be it six or ten. I am always creating something new, rarely sticking to any single format. One day it's art from a photo; the next, finding an image I can change and give a different narrative to. My work is a lot of trial and error: finding the best solution for the piece and then figuring out how best to represent it.
CP: Based on your Instagram, it seems like your work has been shown in-person as well as published in print. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
MG: Sure! I have been fortunate enough to have been a part of many literary magazines, covers, and also some shows.
My two biggest to date would have to be, getting inclusion in the MVVO Ad Art Show and being chosen for a billboard through Save Art Space. My photography has also been showcased about five times for the Jones Soda Company labels. Unfortunately, I have not had any other physical showings of my work, so far.
CP: How has the pandemic impacted your ability to make or show your work? Has it opened up any new possibilities?
MG: While usually my life has been music-centric, that wasn't an option, performance wise, during the pandemic. I had already been doing mobile photography since 2008, on a flip phone, and started to lean more into that during the lockdowns. This led me to incorporating more mixed media into my portfolio, and experimenting with digital art, which is still an exciting learning process for me.
CP: What upcoming projects or collaborations do you have coming up? Any place where folks can see more of your work in the near future?
MG: Currently I have a collection of NFTs, " MOODS", on Rarible, which stemmed from a series geared for merchandise. I continue to submit to literary magazines and other opportunities as they arise. My latest collection, " Unseen America", is still a work in progress, as I find myself continually curating the images. My goal for this work is to do gallery showings and possibly an NFT collection in the near future.
CP: Is there anything else you would like us to know about you or your work?
MG: I have no formal training in art or photography. I am using the " learn as you go" method, which suits my style of the conceptual (for better or for worse).
NOTE: All of the above images in this interview are by Matt Gold, curated from vintage Polaroids X Digital Art, from his upcoming project "Unseen America".