Skully Gustafson is a trans femme artist who finds inspiration in the fantastical. She mostly focuses on painting, but she is also a musician, writer, drawer, painter, sculptor and actor. Her newest exhibition, Upon A Wand, will be displayed in the Peel Gallery in Carrboro from April 9 to May 4.
Upon A Wand consists of 10 paintings featuring whimsical figures that turn into abstractions and blend in with their environment. The name comes from a figure in one of the paintings who is holding a wand. The paintings are covered in glitter and iridescent aspects that enhance the magical sparkle of the exhibition.
Gustafson said she finds inspiration for her paintings from fantasy realms that she creates inside her head. Her art is playful, abstract, colorful and freeform, and contains elements of astrology, mythological figures, deities, nature and aspects of eastern religions.
“I like for art to feel sacred, I think it is a sacred space,” Gustafson said. “Same with the abstract stuff. Its kind of how I look at nature, things just become abstract the closer you look at them.”
The upcoming exhibition features a mix of new, old and reworked paintings. She tries to limit her consumption and engagement with capitalism by purchasing used materials and repurposing them.
Gustafson’s paintings will be available for purchase at the Peel Gallery. She said in an email that she has lowered her prices as another way of protesting capitalism. She doesn’t want to perpetuate the standard that only wealthy people can afford art, but she understands the balance between paying artists fairly and keeping art accessible. For her, lowering prices doesn’t devalue her work. Gustafson finds value in seeing her art go unexpected places rather than letting it sit unseen.
From paintings in galleries to just the words she speaks, every aspect of her life is intertwined with art. She sees everything as a canvas, often purchasing old paints and paintings from the Scrap Exchange in Durham to add her own touch to them. She has created many art pieces for her friend and fellow artist, Critter, including painted shoes, baseball cards and Whole Foods bags.
“She lives art like there's not a thing in her life that she wouldn’t love to touch in an artistic way,” Critter said. “She appreciates so many things in an artistic way and absorbs them into her life and often adds to them.”
