BRIAN GUBICZA
I PARKED MY CAR, BOUGHT SOME SUSHI AND RAN INTO A NAZI YOUTH RALLY ON A NEW JERSEY BOARDWALK. THEIR FACES WERE PAINTED WHITE LIKE MIMES.
JEN (MY WIFE) ASSASSINATED HITLER BACKSTAGE AT A PLAY. SHE WAS LATER FOUND (BY THE JUDGE) TO BE "NOT GUILTY".
JEN BOARDED A BUS TO THE HOSPITAL. SHE GAVE BIRTH; CLONED THE CHILD, AND LEFT WITH A BAG FULL OF MONEY (HAVING SOLD BOTH CHILDREN).
I DISCOVERED A CRYPTIC MESSAGE. SUBMERGING THE PAPER (IN A SMALL POOL) REVEALED A MAP. RUNNING THROUGH TRAFFIC, I ARRIVED AT A HOUSE. I QUICKLY GREW TOO LARGE AND BECAME TRAPPED INSIDE.
A WOMAN FELL FROM A GREAT HEIGHT. ETRUSCAN TEMPLE CAKE. THERE WAS A FREAK IN ATTENDANCE AT THE PARTY.
BRIAN GUBICZA (1976, USA)
-What motivated you to illustrate your dreams? Dreams fascinate me and I am an illustrator. I started a dream journal in college and have been scribbling and sketching since. The mix of the bizarre and mundane seems to be a good fit with my developing world view.
-Along with the illustration you include a short and poetic text that describes the dream and complements the image. How did you come up with this synthesis form? Maybe it comes from watching films with subtitles? Or perhaps from reading too many comics? With both examples the addition of text seems to create a hybrid that is greater than text or image alone.
-This synopsis seem to focus in characters and actions, leaving behind your emotions associated with the dreams. Why? Is action enough to tell a story? This seems to me to be a simplification concerning the power of the written word. To me, there is emotion behind all action… and meaning is largely subjective. The synopsis serves as a guide, but it is never without emotion. Like the illustration, the words exist for interpretation by a thinking/feeling audience.
-What other elements (importants in your dreams) do you necessarily leave behind to write such small synopsis? Each illustration is planned as a small sequence or moment from a dream of several written paragraphs in my journal. I look for the moment of surreality. If I find interest and am compelled to create an illustration, someone may be compelled to explore it.
-In your dream illustrations you use very syntethic elements typical of graphic design. Most of the figures are skeletons that you characterize with different colors and costumes. Why do you prefer geometrical forms and insist in simplicity? When you break objects down to simple forms, they become wonderfully complex. Everybody jumps inside! The “skeletons” and costumes speak about the love for play and my childhood nostalgia for Playmobil. When creating an illustration, It is very much like moving colorforms around a stage.
-Which are the dreams that you prefer not to illustrate? Not every dream CAN be illustrated (at least from my experience) Often, I will start by roughing out 25 dreams, only to find that 5 or 6 actually end up as completed illustrations. Most of the problems result from “dream logic”. Additional illustration might be required to show back story about a given object or person, which in itself would require a volume of dream illustrations. In reality, I would prefer to illustrate all my dreams.
-You have published 2 volumes of dreams. What have these books brought to your life? Some nice words and a few sales.
-In some dreams you mention Mexico. Is there any reason that explains your dreaming with Mexico? I’ve never flown the space shuttle or been to Mexico. That doesn’t stop me from dreaming about it.
-Do you remember a dream that your father or your mother told you? As a child, we did share our dreams occasionally. Nothing specific comes to mind at the moment.
© ALL THE IMAGES BY BRIAN GUBICZA.
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Questions by Roger Omar. June 2010.
