Sindre Wexelsen Goksøyr (1975) has extensive experience as a visual artist, draftsman, illustrator, designer and musician. He is a member of the cartoon collective Dongery and he has distinguished himself as a cartoonist for over 20 years. Goksøyr's drawings are characterized by a direct and recognizable design language, rich in cultural references.
In many of his drawings, themes are conveyed that are still considered taboo, but the drawings are always integrated with humor. A special feature of the artist's drawings is the use of satire and irony that communicate something absurd and surreal. The characters in the motifs are not something you encounter every day, yet they are recognizable to most of us. In this sense, Goksøyr teases in our usual notion of the society around us, by triggering the imagination and arousing our curiosity. Goksøyr has had several book publications and exhibitions, both in Norway and abroad, and he has stood out with several awards including Visuelt , Årets vakreste bøker and Sproingprisen. Sindre Goksøyr recently became a member of Tegnerforbundet . We warmly welcome him.
TF: Sindre, can you tell us a little about your artistic work?
SWG: I work as a visual artist, cartoonist and illustrator, and am part of the artist collective Dongery . I work a lot with graphics, and then mainly silkscreen printing, but also pure ink drawings, watercolors and sculpture. Otherwise, comics are a time-consuming part of my work, and it puts a small brake on productivity. There are few arts that take so much time and contain so much repetition. It requires a lot of patience. You have to draw the same characters over and over again. But it's fun when you feel you get to tell the story you want. For me, visual art and comics flow into each other and are for me free art, while illustration often relates to a text or a message that must emerge. There is a difference between making a work only from your own head, and making a poster that will promote a play. But I try to let a little of myself slip through there too, and I think my clients want that. I hope that each poster can also be an independent work of art.
TF: How do you use drawing in your work? Tell us a little about your work process!
SWG: I draw on paper, first with a pencil and then with a brush that I dip in felt-tip pen. I usually start with an idea in my head, and then I make small sketches with a pencil on paper, and then it usually happens a bit of everything, and the idea changes. But when I have come up with something I think works, I draw the larger one on a little finer paper, and then I draw with a brush and felt-tip pen. Sometimes I'm done after this. But very often I scan the drawing and add colors in Photoshop. Is it, for example, a poster or newspaper illustration that is to be offset-printed, or printed as a DGA, I'm done with the colors here. When it comes to screen printing, the colors I make on the machine are really just sketches. I physically mix the real colors in a tub, and I think that is a satisfying process. Mixing colors physically, and seeing how they change as long as you move a little in the room is interesting and time consuming. I can spend several hours on each color, and they never end up like the Photoshop sketch.
TF: What inspires you? Do you work on a theme?
SWG: I'm naturally inspired by other artists and storytellers. But it is mainly life that inspires me. Almost everything I make is based on things I have experienced, observed or felt. But I rarely make purely biographical things. It is usually fiction spun out of something from reality.
TF: What are you currently working on?
SWG: I always have several projects going on. I work with some prints, some book projects, exhibitions, various illustration assignments, some album covers, posters, a cartoon report from Hvitsten salon, and a series of sculptures and drawings. But the main project for a while now has been what is meant to be an all-night comic book called Pfft !. It's about Noel, a guy who almost in the middle of his life suffers a herniated disc and has to have surgery and is chained to the bed for a while. He gets plenty of time to think about the life he has lived, interrupted by quarrels and attempts at reconciliation with cohabitants and friends. But a lot of fluff for Noel. People may have met Noel before in the comic book album Hrmf! from 2011.
TF: What does drawing mean for you / your work?
SWG: It's basically the basis of everything I do. Both graphics, sculpture, comics, illustration… it always starts with drawing.
TF: Tell us a little about your work in Tegnerforbundet's sales department!
SWG: I have a little different there.
First of all, I can talk a little about the works from my last exhibition, which I had in tandem with Christopher Nielsen at Galleri Briskeby. There were actually two projects, which had in common that they contained sexual drawings of hairy people. We did not see each other's work until we had finished making each one for ourselves. Christopher's exhibition was called "Live well, live hairy". My exhibition was called "Do you want to indulge in the Kama Sutra with me?"
Many people may have thought that I wanted to shock or provoke with my drawings of all kinds of sex between hairy people. But provoking is never my motivation for making things. For me, that exhibition was a way to reflect a little on contemporary truths and ideals. Have fun and spread some joy by depicting a little everyday life, and research a little about taboos, conformity and shame. I have no understanding that there should be anything to be provoked about. But I must say there were many interesting reactions. So the project was successful and I think I learned a lot. In the Tegnerforbundet´s sales departement, felt-tip pen drawings from this and other previous projects are on display.
Another picture I can say something about is the DGA print «Hemsedal». It was a commissioned work for a couple who wanted a picture for their cabin in Hemsedal. I got full artistic freedom, and I think it was fun to find all the little stories the picture contains. How different people are, and all the different agendas that exist side by side at the same time in the same place. The couple in Hemsedal got a huge picture of 100x150 cm, and is only available in one copy. But here is also available a small series in the size 50x70 cm.
See available works by Sindre Wexelsen Goksøyr in the online store .
