How did you start making art?
I was enrolled in “Painting in the Parks”programs in Victoria at the age of six and kept getting scholarships for the next years tuition so kept that up for the following ten years. Also loved making vignettes as a youngster with whatever materials could be scrounged up. So I guess that I am still creating both after sixty years. The scale has changed though.
What inspires you?
I love to take a germ of an concept , play with it, twist it about, then bring it to fruition. There’s an excitement when the creative path becomes clear and you can see the route to accomplish it. That’s not saying that further inspired sideroads aren’t welcome along the way. A project can always grow richer.
Is there an element of art that you enjoy working with most?
The projects are so diverse that it is hard to to pin point one preferred medium. And I get bored easily so the more the variety the more that I can stay engaged. But learning something new is always exciting. Often in my projects there are multiple disciplines involved to complete a piece and each is integral to work with the next that to elevate one process over another would undermine the end result.
What is your motto?
“The Show Must Go On” . Having grown up in a theatrical family you quickly learn that you have a hard deadline that you do everything possible to achieve and sometimes that is not too healthy. Being a procrastinator it has sometimes been a difficult life. I must say that my enthusiasm for consecutive sixteen hour days has greatly diminished although there were a few 12 hour days last year, but try to keep them under 8 at the moment although often seven days a week.
Is there something that you can’t live without in your studio?
It is always nice to find the right tool to help aid the piece, but what I most appreciate is the light in the studio. Fortunately there are large windows and the quality of light is always changing. It moves with the time of day, weather and the seasons and sets the tone of the space.
What is your greatest extravagance?
I am not much of a material possession person so my big extravagance is experiential. In particular travel. I’m not an all inclusive resort or cruise type but prefer more adventurous journeys down less travelled roads.
Do you have any artistic projects coming up?
Recently have been working on Wax Museum scenes and figures and just ordered a container of dinosaur fossils to play with at another attraction. There is also designing and creating the interior of a cave. And there are other concrete and plaster sculpting works on the horizon. And there is a possibility of a large exterior mural being discussed and a chance to work with Shary Boyle on a sculpting project this summer.
I hang my hat in Chippawa but the studio is in Silvertown. Just to be clear, I altered an existing hippo to open its mouth and made the figure. And I just resculpted the head of the rat. It was too cute before. Sorry for any possible false credit.
Anton Gosley
