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Artist Who Knows His Place

As Beijing-based Australian artist John Gould was quick to humorously point out, any writer intent on getting inside his head to discover what makes him tick would first have to hack through his "bird's nest"-the mop of now-graying hair that has doubled as the 50-year-old's nick-name since his student days.

As things turned out, there was no need for a tonsorial expedition. Gough is as loquacious as any friendly Aussie, and highly articulate to boot (possibly because he is half Icelandic on his mother's side). No editorial agonizing over his psyche is needed because he more than anyone knows precisely what motivates him, at base an artistic philosophy that says: "You can't afford to stop. If you do, you commit creative suicide." Which explains his workaholic prolificacy.

No complaints or observations either about the pain of creativity, nor slaving over a hot paintbrush or sculptor's chisel Ñ the latter the genre in which he originally trained, and where he made something of a name for himself before rising to greater heights in producing three-dimensional paintings and other works, including in fabric.
Gould, who has around 30 successful solo and group exhibitions of his prodigious output to his credit -"I like to do one big exhibition each year"-is currently planning his fourth Beijing showing early in 2003, probably at the Creation Gallery in cooperation with, he hopes, local artists and a Tibetan. He says that while the pictures he hangs will basically be about China, they will emphasize Beijing.

What can visitors expect at a deeper level? "Technically, you could call my style a multi-media mix of the 3D and semi-abstract," he explains. "My 3D work is partly about illusions which start with the physical fact of a viewer looking at, say, one of my topographical maps of Beijing. The roads it contains are designed to draw the viewer into the environment and find aspects of fact and fantasy. As with my early sculptures, my 3D paintings are hands-on, tactile, a medium I can manipulate which, I guess, comes from my sculpting days."

A sense of "place" runs strong in Gould. "Wherever I am in the world, this feeling is with me, and provides all the creative scope I need. Currently it's Beijing, and China on a broader scale, because my wife Irene works for AusAid at the Australian Embassy. Wherever she is posted in the world, I naturally go with her, and quickly assimilate into the local art scene both as a painter and teacher, including of sculpture. I'm lucky that this somewhat nomadic lifestyle is the well of my inspiration."

Prior to Beijing he enjoyed fruitful periods in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, along the way working with the latter's local Nyumba Ya Sanaa sculptors and brilliant Makonde ebony carvers. Earlier, in south-eastern Australia, he had also worked with Nanawol aboriginal artists Where next when his wife's tour of duty here finishes in 2004? "Who knows? But I would like to spend some time in Turkey and the Middle East because I have a passion for any history that is relevant today.

"This is also why I so easily identify with Beijing, and China in general. I have just returned from a few weeks in western China, mainly in Xinjiang and Kashi. I went there to explore the historical perspective, but not necessarily Marco Polo's travels in the area.

"The whole experience was of great artistic inspiration, especially when I found myself in the middle of Kashi's old city. It looked pretty much as it must have around 1200. I will produce some works from the trip, though if I had the opportunity I would go back tomorrow to find even more inspiration."

For now, though, Gould is relishing the fact that the world's current greatest swimmer, fellow Australian Ian "Thorpedo" Thorpe, recently asked him to donate one of his smaller pictures for auction, the proceeds going to Thorpe's charitable foundation for disadvantaged Chinese children. Gould happily obliged, and the painting fetched 10,000 yuan. Gould says this episode gave him more pleasure than the knowledge that his works are in many international galleries and private collections.

One question remains. Why did he switch from sculpting to painting? "Years ago a packing firm told me that pieces I wanted to exhibit in America and take back to Australia were too big and oddly shaped to transport. I had always been a keen painter, so I thought life would be a whole lot easier doing that instead. I'm glad I did. I think it was the great Henry Moore who said that all painters should first train as sculptors to learn true form, and he was right."