Gregory Euclide grew up north of Milwaukee in a rural setting whose town he describes as one "that you might find under a christmas tree". Making a living as an artist and teacher, his works are multilayered landscapes within landscapes which are immediately stunning and bear the weight of prolonged inspection with numerous details and narratives.He is also very open about his work and has on many occasions shared his processes both on his website and in interviews. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to put my questions to him and feature his work on SiouxWIRE.
On your site and in interviews, you talk a lot about memories in regards to your work. Is there a particularly important memory from your childhood that has influenced your work?
Not one, many. I have a really bad memory. I think for several reasons. Yet I remember specific things really well. It is frustrating. I do not remember my childhood very well. But I remember spending a lot of time walking though fields and playing in forests. I was really lucky to live in a landscape that was full of rivers, ponds, forests, fields, and no other houses. Of course, all that land I used to move though is gone now. It has been converted to houses.
Can you tell us about your usage of layered materials?
I started by working with layers of acrylic sheet. Painting and drawing on paper, using implied depth was not enough for me. Yet, I liked the gesture of drawing. So, I did not want to loose that. I wanted real depth in a drawing. I was interested with the fact that, with the panes of acrylic, the viewers actual gaze is moving through planes. Physically seeing one first, then another, then another. I was using those layers to display meaning. Things that dealt with the micro, the macro and the familiar.
Now, I don't think about the mixing or layering of materials. It is simply a question of "what needs to be there?" or "what is the best solution for this image I am looking for?"
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