3 minute read
Gavin Geffros
TheViewMaster
Alcohol markers, Photoshop [73.38 x 52.92 cm]
Untitled (2020) Medium Untitled (2020) Medium
Pixelated Mario
Perler beads, painted canvas, frame [36.78 x 29.2 cm]
“I based this piece on the game Super Mario Bros. 3 from 1989. I presented the piece inside of a small display case with a blue painted canvas board making up the background. I also used foam dividers to make each of the Perlerbead characters pop out and create a 3D effect, much like what is visible in the game."
Rubik Pac Man
Rubik’s cubes, wood framing [38.1 x 34 x 8.5 cm]
“I was inspired by Giovanni Contardi, who did this style of art but with much larger pieces. I also framed the pieces in wood, as during the 80’s when Pac-Man came out, wood was a popular aesthetic at the time. The pieces are also not completely accurate to their in-game counterpart; tweaks had to be made to accommodate the color limitations."
Blickel, Gameboy Version
Pixel art (made in Aseprite), frame [54.4 x 25 cm]
“This was a piece that I created based on both the Gameboy and a retro video game that I created myself. While the physical Gameboy frame isn’t of my design, I created each of the characters and scenery seen on the Gameboy screens myself. This was presented as a set of four, because the game I made had four worlds, and each Gameboy has a unique world being played. The Gameboy screen colors are also authentic to the real system. The four pieces are all framed together for cohesion.”
A Wild Sprid Appeared!
Alcohol markers, ink pen [45.7 x 61 cm]
“I wanted to capture the emotion of a child exploring the forest and searching for animals. This was what the original Pokémon video game series was based on, and thus I wanted to capture that emotion in the piece. The Pokémon is of my own design, made to emulate those made by Ken Sugimori who designed much of the earlier Pokémon designs. Sprid is the name of the character that appeared in the piece.”
Passing On
Watercolor, ink pen [45.7 x 61 cm]
“Thomas the Tank Engine was a large part of my childhood, which in part was presented to me because my parents introduced me to the franchise at an early age. I captured this image by having an older gentlemen show Thomas, who is a symbol of childhood, to his presumed child or grandson. The colors were chosen to emphasize the child’s youth, and the man’s old age. Fans of the show might even recognize the older gentlemen as Sir Topham Hatt, which is symbolic for parents passing their childhood onward.”
Toys at War
Photography printed on canvas, toy army soldiers, sand [36 x 29 cm]
“I based this piece on the idea of presenting a realistic war scene made up of army soldiers. I created the scene with the toy soldiers in a bucket of sand to give some realistic terrain for the piece. I did want a central character for people to focus on, so I made the focal point a solder with a radio facing the camera. The rest of the scene was burled to allow focus on the foremost soldier that it was a toy, not a person, blurring the line between fiction and reality.”
