Ricky Lee Gordon Explores Nature & Interconnectedness

Cape Town artist Ricky Lee Gordon (aka Freddy Sam) joins us with his loose and powerful Like Currents Our Thoughts Rise And Pass… as part of the 2016 POW! WOW! Hawaii x 1xRUN Print suite! Pulled from his latest solo exhibition this print blends hyperdetailed archival pigment printing with a subtle transparent gold screen print layer for a print that finds the artist exploring nature and interconnected-ness. Read on to get the full story from Ricky Lee Gordon, and be sure to grab yours now…

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1x: Tell us a little bit about this piece, anything immediate you would like us to highlight?
Ricky Lee Gordon: The piece, like most of my work, is exploring interconnected-ness and non-duality. I’m drawn to the ocean as a subject not only for its aesthetic value and depth but also for the symbolic subtleties it can represent when trying to portray an idea.

1x: Was this piece part of a recent theme, series or show that you had? If so how did it fit into that given grouping?
Ricky Lee Gordon: This piece is a collage of two different paintings from my 2015 solo show Nothing is everything in Cape Town. I am inspired by nature, and how everything is interconnected. We intrinsically know this because we are nature. This work shows that our thoughts are simply the rising and passing of nature like currents and waves.

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1x: When was this piece created and what materials were used ?
Ricky Lee Gordon: The original painting is oil on canvas and it was made in 2015.

1x: Tell us a little bit about your process and how the idea and execution came about?
Ricky Lee Gordon: I take my own reference photos and collage images that work well together aesthetically to articulate the concept. The symbolism and meaning is layered which then influences an intuitive process of abstraction on top of that primary painting.

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1x: How long did this piece take from start to finish?
Ricky Lee Gordon: I paint most of the piece in 2 or 3 days. I then sit down and paint straight for 8 to 10 hours, I love it and I can’t seem to allow myself to slow down or step back, I just get absorbed. Then after it dries; I add layers of abstract fragments and transparent glazes over the course of a month. This creates a multi dimensional feel when exploring the work up close and adds to the layered symbolism.

1x: What do you feel is unique about this piece compared to your other work?
Ricky Lee Gordon: This is the first time I have collaged two separate older works and I feel they complement each other really well from color, texture, tone and composition. I prefer to make the print something original and not just a print of a photo of a work, This print is then finished with a metallic transparent gold screen print square in the center.

1x: Describe this piece with one gut reactionary word.
Ricky Lee Gordon: Memory.

1x: Without giving away too much, what are your plans for your mural out in Honolulu?
Ricky Lee Gordon: I am painting another image of a person submerged in the ocean, I painted a similar piece for the Artesano festival in the Dominican Republic this past December. The work is a continuation of a series titled ‘Ocean Poet’ and is about interconnectedness. The wave knows it is the ocean and the ocean knows it is the wave.

1x: Any of the participating artists you are excited to see painting?
Ricky Lee Gordon: I got to share a room with Andrew Hem at the Artesano festival. He is one of my favorite artist right now and he is just such a great guy and I think hes murals are just getting better and better, I was amazed to learn how new he actually is to mural making.

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1x: What’s your schedule like after POW!WOW! 2016? Any big shows or events coming up that you’d like to share?
Ricky Lee Gordon: I will be in the US for 3 months to work on large mural projects in Oakland, Los Angeles, Phoenix, New York and San Diego. Ill also be participating in Chip Tomas’ Painted Desert project on the Navajo reserve in Arizona. 
Im then going to Ukraine for a large mural and from there I am off to India for a 1-month Tibetan Tanka painting apprenticeship.

1x: Where else can people find you?
Ricky Lee Gordon: WebsiteInstagram@freddysam_ – Twitter

-1xRUN