Single Whammy
gouache and spray paint on cutout paper
34½ x 25 in., 2014

NEW YORK BASED ARTIST, Jim Gaylord’s work resonates still-frames from movie action sequences – possibly a conscious or subconscious influence from his first degree in Film. The images in his paintings capture scenes, atmosphere, emotions and movement; they are energetic images that are vibrant and spontaneous.

Gaylord’s work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the West Collection, and the Progressive Art Collection.

In his own words

What motivated you to become an Artist? When did you create your first piece of purposeful Art that is etched in your memory?
As a kid, I was always painting and making things, like puppets and dioramas, but it wasn’t until after college that I saw myself as a “painter.” I had studied film production in school and thought I might pursue animation as a creative career. When this didn’t pan out, I realized my heart wasn’t in it in the first place, and that I got a great deal more satisfaction working on my own ideas. From that point on, I stopped thinking about a career in which I could use my technical skills to realize someone else’s vision, and rather did what was necessary to make time for my own work.

The first two oil paintings I ever made were also the first that I ever showed in public. They were part of a group show in the basement of my friends’ house in San Francisco’s Mission District. The show was called “Debasement.” There’s something about the feel of those pieces that’s still present in what I’m doing now.

Heals Itself
gouache on cutout paper
33¼ x 25 x ½ in., 2013

Where do you get your inspiration from? What, or who inspires you the most?
I’m most interested in art that takes me a while to figure out. Mystery is a really important difference between “art” and “design,” like the difference between poetry and driving directions. If I’m instantly aware of what an artwork is trying to do, or how it was made, I move on pretty quickly. But the ones that make me linger and wonder for a while matter the most to me.

What does “being creative” mean to you?
More than anything else, I think being creative means making the work that only you can make, with the abilities and insights that are unique to you as a person.

How has your practice changed over time?
I’ve noticed something like an arc in my practice over the past ten years. In the beginning, I was doing a lot of imitating and playing out the aesthetics, I was responding to other artists’ work. There was something individual and personal about my ideas, but the execution was derivative. Then I got really carried away with developing a process that would push my work away from comparisons to those artists, which became a little chaotic. Now I’m trying to separate out the most helpful parts of that process, and bring back the original impulses that attracted me to painting in the first place.

Interrupted Hypnotism
gouache on cutout paper
33½ x 25¼ in., 2013

Where do you hope to take your work in the next few years?
I’d love to do my first piece of public art, like the mosaics in the New York City subway stations. Those works are so important to the experience of moving through the city. And even though we’re usually passing them pretty quickly, there’s something really nice about knowing they’ll always be there.

Jim Gaylord was born in 1974 in Washington, North Carolina. Graduating first with a BA in Flim from the University of NC, Greenboro, he later went onto study and receive aMFA, from The University of California, Berkeley, Gaylord now lives and works in Brooklyn.

All images courtesy of Jim Gaylord  |  www.jimgaylord.com

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Can’t Undo
gouache on paper
32 x 40 in., 2011

Study No. 10
gouache on paper and acetate, plastic peg bar
10½ x 14½ in., 2009

Keyhole Painting No. 3
gouache on paper
22 x 30 inches, 2010
Source photo submitted by Larissa Bates

A page from his sketchbook

Study (Half Wink Chucker)
gouache on paper
17½ x 23 in., 2013