Mosaic artist Gregory Gaylor is opening his studio to the public on June 3 from noon to 5 p.m. The studio is at 813 Muir Ave. in Rock Springs. New artwork as well as a few older pieces will be on display. Former Green River resident and artist Peter Butler will be a special quest for the afternoon.
Five years ago, Gaylor’s studio and much of his artwork was destroyed in a fire. Since then, Gaylor rebuilt his studio, painstakingly cleaned a few pieces that were able to be saved, and started creating new work.
“On April 10, 2012, the studio burned to the ground. We lost everything. Kathy and I rebuilt the studio and I went back to work,” said Gaylor. “A fire falls on the just and the unjust. That’s all I have to say about that.”
Gaylor served as director of the Community Fine Arts Center from 1991 to the fall of 2000. His focus to provide educational opportunities for the youth of our community included a summer Art Camp, in-school workshops, and field trips for the high school students to Jackson and Denver art museums. He is also a past member of the Wyoming Arts Council Board.
“Much of Gregory’s artwork is on a grand scale, both physically and in subject matter,” CFAC director Debora Soule said. “You feel the commitment to his vision, of his beliefs and his desire for the viewer to be captured by the images.”
From his artist statement, Gaylor explains the craftsmanship of working with a grid, defining the forms, cutting, refining the shapes and finally reworking them into the whole image. But it is his inspiration to tell the story, wanting the viewer “to join in their drama and recognize one’s self in the panorama of saviors and scoundrels.” Gaylor fills his work with “a broad pageant of creatures, prophets, misfits and gods”, seeking “unexpected consequences especially in the narrative detail.”
“Beneath the elegant detail is the long, simple line, perhaps the most beautiful and powerful expression of the human hand.
“The integration of preciousness and beauty into the work illuminates the sacred mysteries of ordinary life and elevates those moments of human experience to reveal the glory of God. Each work glitters and competes for the eye of the viewer. Surface textures and color are produced with the frenetic mixture of drawing, painting, sculpture and mosaics. The works become powerful, deep bodied and dazzling to viewers of all imaginations and beliefs.”
Among numerous awards he received the Wyoming Association of Arts Educators Friend of Art Education Award in 1999, Wyoming Council of Arts Fellowship Sculpture and Painting in 1990 and again in 2007. He was a Ucross Foundation Artist in Residence in 2003 and received the 2004 Wyoming Arts Council’s Baer Award for Excellence in Painting for an artist living and working in Wyoming. In 2009, his work received the Rocky Mountain Biennial Award which included a 20 year retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in Fort Collins, Colo.
The artist has been represented in several galleries and has work in many private and public collections.
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