ARC Artist Spotlight
Gray
September 22: writer, performance poet, and second-time ARC Artist Gray
Gray is best known for crumpling up paper into a ball and throwing it behind him. This paper contains words, like a love note, or an apology (or both), the syntax of which he is never be quite satisfied with. He has fallen in love and apologized so many times that the living room and dining room of his apartment have become completely covered with paperballs. He refuses to carry them to the garbage, because he likes to be reminded of failure. There are enough paperballs to completely cover the entire floor of his apartment 5 feet deep. He has a fondness for jumping off of furniture and into the balls, swimming through them from one room to another. This activity reminds him of leaping into leaves in Autumn. Sometimes he writes love letters to the apology letters, and sometimes he writes apology letters to the love letters. Once the collection of paperballs reach the ceiling, Gray will be forced to rent another apartment. He will still he maintain the original apartment with the paperballs. He’ll continue returning to it until he can discover the perfect way of saying “I love you, I’m sorry.”
Don’t miss Gray’s performance in the Livestream Concert on September 26 at 7:00pm (MDT)!
ARC Artist Interview
Tell us a little about yourself:
I am writer and performance poet from Salt Lake City, Utah. I am a Utah native. I love language and literature and running around outdoors.
Is this your first time participating in ARC?
No, this will be my second time!
What kind of art do you make/do?
I primarily focus on poetry and performance poetry.
How did you get into art?
I was always more interested in English in school, so I gravitated towards the language arts. I started attending open mics when I was 17 and got to know the poetry scene in SLC. That group introduced me to a wide variety of poetry and a deep appreciation for language. That scene ebbed and flowed and gradually morphed into a slam-poetry scene.
What does your creative process look like?
I try to write as often as possible or to stay creatively charged. Engaging with other arts is very useful in keeping creative momentum going. I also practice a lot of free-writing and various writing exercises that sometimes evolve into larger pieces or projects.
What is your relationship to recovery, and how has your artistic practice influenced that?
The old poetry scene drank a lot. And did a lot of drugs. We all thought it made us more creative, but it just made our writing worse. That left me with some bad habits, which continued up until I totaled my car in 2015. From that experience, as well as falling out with many people, I decided to focus on my life choices which included reducing or ceasing my alcohol consumption. My recovery has not been perfect, often riddled with relapses. But I continue to grow from my experiences and have maintained sobriety for the last couple years.
Tell us a little about the pieces you’ll be performing in the Concert on Saturday night:
I’ll perform some pieces from a completed manuscript called the 5:15 Happy Hour Sobriety Prayer Book.
It’s based on the 3rd step (that we turn our lives over to God as we understand God) and the 11th step (that we seek connection to God through prayer and meditation). Since I don’t understand, or even believe in, God, I invented my own gods, and these are my prayers to them.
Is there any particular place you draw your inspiration from these days?
I try to read as much as possible. Mostly poetry, and a lot of fiction. I’m particularly interested in narratives of the whimsical and fantastical.
Any books/tv shows/movies you’re hooked on right now?
Too many to count.
Amee Bender, Wislawa Szymborska, Hanif Abduraqib, Jean-Pierre Jeunet films, Charlie Kauffman films, Better Call Saul, to name a few.
I love local arts more than anything. Support your local performing arts!
Any last words/fun facts/jokes you’d like to share!
Why can’t a tyrannosaurus rex do pushups?
--Because they’re dead.
ARC Artist Roundtable Discussion
Tune in to a roundtable discussion with this year’s ARC artists, including Gray, where we talk about all things art, the creative process, the power of storytelling, and what it means to be an artist in the recovery community.