Interview with Artist John Proulx

Ontario born, long term B.C. resident John Proulx, talks to us about his art, inspiration and spiritual pursuits! His super psychedelic art is available in art cards at Gaia Rising!

                             Follow him on Instagram @gascanjohnny

Gaia Rising: Tell me a little bit about yourself. Background, where you grew up, just a brief history of YOU.

John Proulx: When I was about 2 yrs old my parents inherited my great uncle Rosere's trap line in Caramat, Ontario. There we lived off grid until I was about 9 yrs old. I attended an on-room school house, attended by maybe 10 students in total. At 20yrs old, I began my career as a Laboratory Technician and successfully managed Laboratory Services for about 18 yrs.

Gaia: What prompted your interest in art? Were there any art pieces, or was there a moment of inspiration that compelled you to pursue becoming an artist?

John: My biological father was a traditional carver and allowed me to help out in the shop as a small child. I was managing an Aggregate testing Laboratory in Surrey, BC and on a slow day I noticed that some of the stone in one of my samples was quite soft. I spent the afternoon carving the bust of a woman using a flat head screwdriver. After work I presented it to my wife and she insisted that I pursue stone sculpture as a hobby

Gaia: I noticed in your bio that you said you were a self taught sculptor, what kinds of materials did you work with to create your pieces? What did you sculpt? Why switch over to the other mediums that you work with now? Do you still create sculptures?

John: I sculpted stone and did a little wood work. I preferred working with stone though. For some reason I  found the weight of the stone very satisfying and really enjoyed working with hand tools. Almost all abstract pieces that are surprisingly similar to the shapes in my current work. I just started sculpting a piece a couple months ago but I'm at a stand still until I acquire a couple of specialized tools.

Gaia: How does the experience between drawing and sculpting differ for you? Do you feel like you express different parts of yourself through creating different types of art?

John: I don't feel as though they differ much except that one is more labour intensive than the other and you can't hold a drawing the way you can hold a sculpture. Ok, now that I'm thinking about it; that represents a huge difference in that I have a more physical relationship with the stone.

Gaia: Can you tell us what influences your art now? Your designs are rather psychedelic… are you tapping into other realities through any practices like meditation?

John: Absolutely, for the most part I scry my sigils and Transcendental magick in the tradition of Louis Constant, Austin Osman Spare and George Cecil Jones. This practice is big part of my day to day life.

Gaia: Do you have any other creative or artistic pursuits that you like to express yourself besides sculpting, painting and visual art?

John: I do a little writing mostly on the subjects of Magick and Mysticism with a strong emphasis on left hand path traditions.

Gaia: Any projects you are planning that you want to share about?

John: In the short term, I'm working diligently on amassing enough work to show at Frog Peak Cafe in March and Mamma Sita's in May. In the long term I'm working on a Tarot deck.

Gaia: What is your favourite spiritual tool or what spiritual tools are you interested in?

John: Scrying mirrors, hands down.

Gaia: What is something positive you wish to see happen in this world?

John: I'd like to see our society (as a whole) move toward taking responsibility for encouraging and helping to secure the ultimate freedom of the individual. Rather than the current policy of stick and carrot control mechanisms designed to promote a false sense of order through uniformity and mindless conformity.

Gaia: What would be in your shopping bag at Gaia Rising 😊 ?

John: A new scrying mirror (currently scrying in black coffee) and a copy of the Book of Thoth.