INTERVIEW
WITH LUCAS GAUDETTE (ONYX) RELATING TO HIS ARTWORK
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This is a series of answers to questions recently asked
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Lucas,
why do you do this artwork?
I
do this art first and foremost as an exploration of various
moods, attitudes. This work is about activating inspiration,
emotion/thought impulses and creativity within myself and
other people at a very basic and fundamental level. My appreciation
of beauty, vitality and sexuality are at the root of my
reasons for using the female figure. I believe in expressing
my ideas in a positive and fresh way that appeals to people
of all ages.
What
kind of people like your work?
On
a basic level, almost everyone. Not many people object to
attractive and nude women. However, there is more to my
art than this. For me, my drawings reflect an aspect of
myself that might be hidden from most people, a deeper emotional
realm, perhaps the same feelings that govern my dreams and
subconscious mind. When an onlooker observes one of my characters,
they might look closer and discover that there is an expression
in her eyes that speaks to them a way that they may not
even be able to express. This is where you get to see what
my art is really getting at. My characters usually always
carry a level of introspective quality that allows people
who want more from my art to really get into it and enjoy
it. Additionally I draw in a very palatable, simple, yet
detailed and colourful way. My artwork looks good in most
environments and is always positive in nature. So, all-in-all
I think I have a good balanced demographic of people that
can enjoy my drawings on a basic aesthetic level while also
having access to an emotionally inspirational experience.
You said you have received comments from women
relating to the "perfect; figures of the females
you are depicting in your work. You seem to be on some levels
promoting modern aesthetics over what may be considered
more "natural; approaches to the female form.
Firstly,
I am a modern person and generally speaking so too are my
preferences. As I indicated earlier I am interested in expressing
ideas of health and vitality , a whole person that is emotionally
real, beautiful and engaged in life. While I see beauty
in everything, I don't believe that healthy people are obese
or ugly. Any person that feels good about and takes care
of themselves is attractive, including people who are heavier
set. I've seen this more than once, a person who before
I felt was unattractive physically and energetically predominantly
because of their attitudes and I've seen those same people
become so beautiful in such a short time that I barely recognized
them. This by the way was not due to make-up, clothes or
loss of weight. There have been women who have approached
me who were just as, or more beautiful as the characters
in my drawings who have said to me "I think you are
depicting an impossible ideal of women.; What I hear is:
"I don't feel good about myself.; A woman that I have
been close to said this to me once indicating that perhaps
I idealize only beautiful women. I reminded her firstly
that she is just as attractive as the women in my drawings.
Secondly, why wouldn't I idealize attractive women? I don't
draw things that I am not wanting to reciprocate. If you
encounter anyone who naturally looks like what I depict
in my drawings please give me their phone number. ;)
Do
you have a problem with obese or heavier set people?
No,
why should I? Everyone is entitled to be how they like.
I have seen obese women that I have found very attractive.
I draw according to my preferences and like anyone I have
my personal judgements.
People say that you are objectifying women and
yet you are saying that your artwork is expressing new ideals,
can you tell us about that?
Let
me start with this, I am a man. EVERY MAN objectifies women
to a degree, I don't care what they say. My sister says
that every woman objectifies men too but in a different
way , I'm not sure, I'm not a woman. Men's primary physiological
function as animals on this planet is to find favorable
genes to propagate. With that I put the first part of this
argument to rest.
I
am drawing figures that are vibrant, radiant and healthy
and full of emotion. The ideal I am promoting is of a person
who is fully emersed in the experience of life, themselves
and all that surrounds them. Yes, I have my own preferences
relating to the style of how I express this and it may not
reflect the preference of everyone on the planet ,
that is not my problem, other artists can take care of other
perspectives. I wish for my artwork to speak to anyone who
resonates with what I am doing, other people who don't
like it don't have to.;
What
does the highly sexed nature of your artwork represent for
you?
Sex
is at the core of our most basic physiological functions,
it is one of the greatest sources of inspiration and is
a root component of our basic creativity as human beings.
For me, there is nothing like seeing the figure of a woman
(especially a truly happy one) in its full beauty and vitality.
I get super inspired by the spiritual, psychological and
physiological sensations that occur within me when this
happens. For the purpose of sharing various ideas and attitudes
with other people I can think of no better approach than
to include such a basic universally understood theme as
sexuality. Everyone relates to it and generally speaking
seeing an attractive person is inspirational to anyone.
You
seem to depict mostly young people in your drawings, what's
that about?
Youth
for me is all about beginnings, possibilities, potential,
freshness and enthusiasm. I believe that truthfully everyone
wishes to stay young on some level. I think this is a reflection
of a desire to be healthy, fit and enjoying life through
wondering eyes. As I mentioned earlier, this is what my
drawings are all about.
Why
the cartoon medium?
Firstly,
I love the elegance and efficiency of defined lines and
vivid colour, simplicity. Also, it seems that people do
not project their personal relationship frustrations onto
these fantasy cartoons like they do on a photo of someone
that is "real;. Cartoon characters are devoid
of guilty action and reputation , so this makes it
easy for me to communicate an idea without running into
more complex issues. Also, these characters are a safe way
for many people to explore subjects that they might otherwise
find intimidating or even frightening.
What
do you hope to accomplish by sharing your artwork?
I
hope to see people (young people especially) grow into healthy
adults that are not sexually or emotionally contrived. I
want to see people that are not afraid of existing, that
are ready to grab the potential of life and see it and realized
to its fullest extent. I want no less to than to draw into
the world the very people that I wish to see and meet, interact
with and see thrive.
