10 Questions with Donna Gough

10 Questions with Donna Gough

Al-Tiba9 Art Magazine ISSUE16 | Featured Artist

Gough’s multidisciplinary art practice links elements from drawing, painting, sculpture, and light-based media, investigating ideas around our very existence and our ‘place in space,’ while exploring existential concepts of geometry as a universal language and Gestalt theories of our relationship with nature and the cosmos – and in particular, how we as individuals contribute to the energy that connects us collectively.
She has exhibited in the United States, Germany, and Australia – where her work has been included in the 65th & 66th Blake Prize and the Sydney VIVID Light Festival, along with achievements such as the UNSWA&D Sculpture & Installation Award. Recent exhibitions in Los Angeles include Made in California group shows and neon installations in the Miracle Mile district. A Berlin residency in 2023 concluded with a solo presentation, and her recent solo show in Los Angeles featured in Curate LA’s ‘Top 10 shows to see this week’ member news.

www.donnagough.com|@donna_gough

ARTIST STATEMENT

With this series of visualized geometric structures, Gough explores connections between the language of geometry and ideas of our very existence, with broad conceptual themes of ‘our place in space’ or ‘we are

what surrounds us’. While referencing visual aspects of formal geometry and the philosophy of Synergetics, these works deconstruct traditional, formal geometric structures and reconstruct them to create a new visual language (or reality).

The works have a sense of 3-Dimensionality or spatial depth, with the view morphing and changing depending on your location or perspective as the viewer. While conceptually considering an individual’s contribution to the dynamic or vibrational energy that continuously binds or separates humans, each one of us contributes our individual energy to the collective whole.

INTERVIEW

Can you tell us about your early years in Australia and what initially drew you to the design field?

As a child I was always drawing and making things, but I didn't understand how to translate that into something meaningful until a high school art teacher helped nudge me in the right direction. Based on a very modest portfolio of high school sketches, I landed my first job in a small advertising agency, mostly making text-based advertising for newspapers. It was not the most fulfilling creative work, but it gave me a taste of potential career pathways.
However, I have to be completely honest here – my focus at that age was not on what path I was going to take professionally, but rather, the job was undertaken so I could save money to leave Australia to travel. At 20, I started onmy journey of 'being in the world' and haven't really stopped since. After landing in London with a friend and setting up our base, we spent several months backpacking around Europe by train. Being amongst different cultures, looking at life from multiple perspectives - it taught me so much about seeing life from another's point of view. 

How did your further studies in London shape your artistic vision? And what impact did this experience have on your practice?

After traveling to Europe, I went back to London, where I found work with a small offset printing company. It was the late 80s, and I was still finding my way around the design field. This was pre-computer, so drawing skills were necessary in pitching concept designs to clients. It was around this time that I started to develop my love of typography, letterforms and the idea of visual communication with stylized text. I quickly became adept at drawing font or text styles for concept pitching.
Taking up studies at the then London College of Printing (now part of ual:) were my formative years. An introduction to minimalist design and Bauhaus aesthetics became the foundation of my 30 year design practice – threads of which can be seen in my current day art practice, where I hand draw the font used in my text based neon light works.
An opportunity for a traditional animation traineeship at Disney Studios in Sydney in 2005 became a pivotal part of my conceptual thinking. With 2D or hand-drawn animation, drawings are still presented linearly over time to create the 'illusion of life' when viewed sequentially. It was here that I started to think deeply about time (ourselves) as it flows continuously from past to present and into the future.
Working within the world of corporations and business as a design professional over the years, has given me a strong sense of discipline. Meeting deadlines, production, collaboration with others to create something, and delivery are values that translate across to my current art practice.

Your work combines elements from various mediums, such as drawing, painting, sculpture, and light-based media. Can you describe how you integrate these different forms into a cohesive practice?

Everything starts with a drawing, and even digital projects begin as sketches on paper. As a 'visual thinker,' I need to draw something to truly 'feel' it. When I'm drawing traditionally, I still think sculpturally, with basic geometry guiding my approach to form.
Most of my ideas are sculptural; I think about things in a 3D sense. My rough drawings and sketches usually represent sculptural objects. I spend a lot of time exploring materials, considering technical implications, and working through the practicalities of bringing an artwork to life.
My experiments with paint were attempts to achieve the bold, graphic, flat color aesthetic that digital designs and prints can offer. During the pandemic lockdown, I began experimenting with paint and surfaces, and after many trials, I finally achieved the look that I wanted. During a three month residency in Berlin in 2023, everything came together. I had initially created a series of digital sculptures, with the plan to use 3D-printed resin and installation as my final residency presentation. As I explored different materials and fabrication techniques – the intended sculptures emerged as sculpted drawings or paintings, and I found the perfect flat and smooth surface: aluminum.
The light works are a bit more challenging to adapt to different power sources around the world, but not impossible. I have many new neon ideas, both text-based and sculptural, just waiting for the right opportunity to come along.

Ultimately, how would you define yourself as an artist today? And how did this definition change over the years, given your many different experiences?

Navigating today's world of chaos and uncertainty, my art practice is a way of sense-making and grounding myself. We stand at a pivotal moment in our evolutionary history, where we have the opportunity globally to transition to kinder, more interconnected, and equitable cultural systems. My work often reflects a deep examination of the times we're living through, flowing with the currents of humanity. The principles that influenced me as a young designer still resonate in my artworks, but my relationship with materials has evolved and will continue to do so. 
As I nudge closer to 60, I anticipate changes in the physicality of my work, which I expect will become smaller and easier to maneuver. Despite this, I see a future full of infinite possibilities in my ongoing material experiments and art-making. My diverse experiences in design, animation, and visual art will continue to shape and contribute to my work, driving its evolution.

Your art explores "existential concepts of geometry as a universal language and Gestalt theories of our relationship with nature and the cosmos," as you mention in your statement. What inspired you to delve into these themes, and how do you express them through your work?

Despite living in the 'Californian bubble' here in Los Angeles, it's impossible to escape the influence of the current bitter and polarized political climate in the US. The stakes are incredibly high right now, and the widening chasm between ideologies is palpable. As I reflect on my conceptual influences, including Gestalt theories, Bauhaus teachings, James Lovelock's Gaia theory, and Buckminster Fuller's Synergetics, I think deeply about how each of us contributes to the dynamic energy that binds or separates us. I realize that our individual energies collectively shape our shared reality.
Gestalt theory, with its emphasis on "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts," has always fascinated me, particularly in the context of the Bauhaus conceptual foundation. The Bauhaus approach didn't just aim to shape art and culture; it sought to enhance life itself by integrating the individual with their surrounding space. This perspective resonated with me, reflecting how my own existence and environment interact and influence each other. The Bauhaus teachings aimed to improve life quality by harmonizing design with human existence, fostering a deeper perceptual sensitivity to our surroundings. This principle profoundly impacted me, mirroring my personal quest for balance and meaningful interaction with my environment and the people around me.
Islamic art's tradition of geometric abstraction and patterns to visually connect spirituality with science and art, highlights a profound connection that existed long before European movements. This tradition's emphasis on abstraction and connection aligns with my own appreciation for how art can reflect deeper truths about our existence. Similarly, Buckminster Fuller's Synergetics, focuses on systems in transformation, blending geometry with philosophical language. Fuller's approach to understanding whole system behaviors and integrating various concepts into a unified system seems like a way to connect the dots between physical and metaphysical realms.
In 1979, James Lovelock proposed in his book Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth that our Earth is a living, self-regulating organism and that the evolution of life – and the Earth are intertwined, forming a single, cohesive process. This idea reinforces my belief that we are all integral parts of a larger, interconnected whole. Indigenous Australians, who areone of the oldest living cultures on Earth, along with other Indigenous cultures worldwide, teach us that we are deeply connected to the Earth and cosmos. Their concepts of connection to place and the environment resonate with me, reinforcing my belief in our intrinsic bond with the world around us. It's a perspective that supports my own experiences of seeing patterns and connections in the world and a reminder that my own actions and perceptions are part of the larger, interconnected whole.

Can you discuss the idea of "place in space" in your work and how you visualize the connections between people and their environment?

If I use physics as a lens to understand our existence, I see that atoms, molecules, and particles are basic chemistry playing out in the vastness of space. Essentially, we are all just particles bound together in the cosmos. We're all made of exactly the same stuff. There's no race, no class, no borders, no boundaries – no differences at all. Everything is madefrom the same fundamental material.
In geometry, just as the shared energy connects us, I see how points in space are linked by lines, lines that can form a plane and planes that can build a cube. Yet, a 3D cube remains merely a concept until we use time to rotate it within space. Time that flows continuously from the past to the present and into the future, much like ourselves navigating through this ever-moving continuum.
I often think about how tiny our Earth is compared to the immense cosmos and where humanity fits into the grand scheme of the Universe. This reflection circles back to how we treat one another. Our behavior towards each other, other species, and the planet reveals our disconnect. We often perceive ourselves as separate from the Earth, rather than recognizing our interconnectedness as part of a living ecosystem.
Observing nature, we see many creatures moving as one, like a unified spirit resonating with the universe. If I focus on what unites us rather than what separates us – our shared similarities rather than our differences – I see the beauty and flow of life and our unique place within it. This concept resonates with the idea of James Lovelock's Gaia theory, which, instead of seeing ourselves as separate, we might recognize our place within a living, interconnected system.

Your work has been featured in diverse exhibitions, from the Blake Prize to the Sydney VIVID Light Festival. Can you share a particularly memorable experience or moment from these exhibitions?

Being a finalist in the 65th Blake Prize in Sydney, Australia, in 2018 was a huge honour. It was my MFA graduation year, and I was still finding my way to an art practice. The selected light work' You are (here) now'  had been created for my graduate exhibition at the University of NSW Art & Design. 
The words and aesthetic had been brewing conceptually for many months, but after a spectacular resin-casting failure on the planned work that was to be in the graduate show, I had to work fast on bringing the 'You Are' light work together for grading and presentation. Within 48 hours, I  sourced the vintage X-ray light box and worked out how I would convey the message and concept. I was literally putting the work together in the back seat of a taxi as I raced toward the venue on installation day. Definitely not how I like to work as an artist today – but the experience taught me very early on to remain open, not fixed, around concepts and ideas and to pivot when necessary – or when something is not working. It also taught me about the power of simplicity and engaging audiences with an idea, even with the simplest of mediums.
The work was then selected for the Blake Prize finalist lineup (one of Australia's longest-standing and most prestigious prizes) and has since traveled across the world and been shown at several locations here in Los Angeles.

Does presenting your work to different audiences in different countries impact your work? And how do you ensure your message is perceived when addressing different publics from diverse cultures and backgrounds?

Being part of the Sydney VIVID Light Festival in 2022 was an opportunity to collaborate with Indigenous health humanities scholar and writer Chelsea Watego, activating words from Watego's 'Dear Ancestor' essay through neon light. The installation was a reflective space for truth-telling, disrupting the dominant narrative that has been told throughout colonial histories.
The statement is written in Chelsea's Yugambeh language, from the language group of South-East Queensland, one of the 250 distinct indigenous languages (including 800 dialects) left in Australia today. There were cultural considerations for the project such as; gaining permission from elders and traditional landowners, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation – on which this work sat for the duration of the festival. 
The work began in 2021 while still in pandemic lockdown. I was in California, Chelsea was in Queensland, and the VIVID Festival takes place in and around Sydney Harbour. The technical planning for the almost 5-meter-wide installation was done through Zoom conversations, along with emailed specifications and photographs of the site from the VIVID technical crew. Because the allocated building for our installation was a heritage-listed building, we were not allowed to drill into the brickwork to support the work in any way. The original proposal (site unseen) and planning involved a ground-tethered aluminium frame that would sit in front of the building to support the neon text statement.
When the Australian borders finally opened up again in 2022, I was able to travel back to Sydney to get a better understanding of how the light might work in that location. It was then the work had a technical pivot. As I stood in front of the building, which was our designated install space, I felt that it would be aesthetically better to suspend the neon and the structure that supported it from the building using cables rather than a frame that sat on the ground. After several discussions and site visits with the VIVID crew and engineers, we decided to use weight ballasts and rubber bumpers (to prevent the frame from damaging the brickwork), and the frame was given a green light. The final work took shape from there.
The project was was titled Neon Graffiti: Still Here; The word 'graffiti' might suggest revolutionary energies in an illuminated act of defiance, while 'Still Here', is a refusal by the indigenous people of Australia to subscribe to the myth of their demise. A reminder to the colonisers that they did not succeed.

Speaking of exhibitions, what upcoming projects or exhibitions are you currently working on? Do you have any new projects you would like to share with our readers?

My current YOU ARE painting series started in 2023 during a three-month residency in Berlin. I initially created these images as digital sculptures, with the plan to turn them into an installation using 3D-printed resin. As I explored different materials and fabrication techniques, I decided to transition the images onto a surface with paint. 
Right now, I'm focused on working on smaller paintings for the series while delving into the technical and material aspects, as well as planning and researching for a larger sculpture series. I aim to eventually present the artwork panels and sculptures together. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Berlin; it was an incredibly productive period for me. In addition to looking into future residency programs across Europe, I'm also very eager to spend time working in Spain in the near future.

Lastly, how do you see your practice evolving in the future? Is there any new theme, medium, or technique you would like to explore or implement in the future?

I envision my artwork becoming progressively more minimalist and abstract – and evolving within the geometric abstraction space, whether it's through painting, sculpture, or neon, depending on where I am in the world and the resources I have at hand. I'm excited to continue exploring 3D printing for small-scale sculpture, and I'm currently working on bringing some of my designs to life as larger, full-scale sculptures through more traditional materials such as aluminum and acrylic.