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Drawing is at the heart of what Staffan Gnosspelius does. Most of the time an idea starts in his sketchbook. There it stays while it gets processed, redrawn, scrutinized and eventually discarded or developed into a print or a project. He draws for pleasure. He doodles when he doesn’t know what to draw. He draws when things are hard. Then the act of drawing is like a release valve to take the pressure off.
Staffan's art comes from a place of play. Not only play when he is in a chirpy mood, but from any emotion in life; from feelings of happiness to sadness and anger or frustration. His art practice helps him process these feelings. Drawing and creating artwork is a way for him to digest the world around him and the world inside him. |
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I see my sketchbook work as equivalent to scale-practice for a musician. The difference is that it's not a chore, I draw in my sketchbook for fun—anything can go in there.
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Years ago it was important to me that I could show the book to anyone that wanted to have a look. But this meant that I censored some of my ideas. If they were too obscure or weird I would be embarrassed to show the book, and I was a bit selective.
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Now my sketches are for me, I no longer censor what goes in the book and that's a discipline in itself.
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My sketchbooks are all the same size (17x13cm) and I hand-bind them myself using old test-prints, found papers and random bits and bobs. They are hardback with usually a leather-bound cover. Everything is found or reused down to the leather for the cover. I've cut up old boots, leather trousers, and my mum's old mini-skirt from the 70s to cover them.
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The book size is determined by my pocket and has the same dimensions as a passport. A sketchbook takes around three months to complete and in this time the leather transforms into having a well-used, worn patina.
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My latest book published by Seven Stories Press is called bear. In 2014, a bear with a cone stuck on his head first appeared in my sketchbook.
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At the time I was struggling to understand and help someone very close to me who was dealing with depression and alcoholism.
My frustration came out on the page in the form of this bear. I started drawing him a lot. |
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The darker my mood, the darker the place where the bear was. At times there were octopus arms dragging him down and thorns obstructing his path.
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The drawings turned into etchings and then a narrative started to emerge.
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Nine years later and the project has developed into a wordless picture-book of 80 pages full of etchings. There is no text because the reader is meant to make up their own interpretation.
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I hope the reader will connect with the images in a way that deals with their own difficulties or darker times.
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Staffan Gnosspelius has been living in London since 2002, when he graduated from the Edinburgh College of Art. He shares a studio in south London with two talented artists and his main mode of transport is a rusty, beaten up, old bicycle. You can find out more about Staffan's work at www.gnosspelius.com or on Instagram: @Gnosspelius.
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bear, by Staffan Gnosspelius (Seven Stories Press, 2023)
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