Self-described “sleepy drawer and moving image maker,” Arianna Gazca from the USA creates multimedium illustrations.
“I challenge myself to use abstract imagery to weave a universal language on the human condition,” she says. Her works are dynamic, multilayered, and emotionally charged.
Gazca’s use of color and ink application brings to mind works of Katsushika Hokusai. The depiction of multiplied eyes is symbolic of both introspection and a gaze turned towards the viewer. The drawings are layered and fragmented, aimed to “convey dreams and psyche.” As she mentions herself, she uses art to “form a deep and personal connection with my audience through shared joy and suffering.”
Dreamlike and surreal are simple yet perfect qualities Gazca’s visuals can be categorized in. However, the therapeutic side of them is perhaps what she focuses on most, agreeing that “having experienced rigorous setbacks and challenges in my life, I use my art as a form of healing.”
Through an unexpected and experienced combination of colors and shapes, the artworks represent discernible, yet faint scribbles that could become, if interpreted correctly, guiding maps for anyone who is on a similar path. The artist adds, “My hope is that [the artworks] will also heal or provide a form of catharsis to others who need it the most.”
Read our “Metamorphosis” issue in full
In the 3rd issue of RAWGUE., 24 visual artists and poets share a common pursuit: authenticity over perfection. The subtle art of becoming, the passage through various stages of artistic contemplation, the ever-shifting states of mind, feeling, and medium, or the act of altering reality to underline emotion or meaning – metamorphosis.
We’re a team of writers using our craft to spotlight art in its most honest form. RAWGUE. started as a bi-monthly editorial experiment where each issue’s theme is dictated by the submitted work, thus removing editorial bias from the equation and preserving a more raw approach. We focus on all forms of poetry: written, photographed, painted, drawn, and filmed.
