A. Andrew Gonzales - Lucid Dreaming Artist

**StephL** · 10-29-2013 08:10 PM

I came across an artist yesterday, who´s paintings instantly captivated me - A. Andrew Gonzales.
Interestingly - he states that lucid dreaming was one of his chief inspirations for his sublime and ethereal masterpieces.

I´ve been posting three of his works already in miscellaneous pictures - one day I will - probably - learn to avoid such.
But as a matter of fact - I had found them without context and didn´t really expect him to actually be a lucid dreamer - also a "psychonaut" in the realm of entheogenes.

This man is surely worth a bit more deeper portraying on here.

The artist describes his style as "a revival of the Pre-Raphaelite aesthetic" and "mystical love poems to the soul". His focus is on the figure as both temple and vessel, sublimed by transformative forces. He captures his subjects suspended in an ecstatic moment; poised on the threshold of a new birth.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Raised in an artistic family, the tools for creative expression were a familiar part of my world. As a child, drawing gave me playful access to the exciting contents of fantasy and imagination. This playful communion with fantasy would later mature into the creative exploration of the patterns of my soul, and the celebration of the forces of life.

My childhood preoccupation with dreams and imaginal worlds would soon lead me to the masters of imaginative painting. But it wasn't mere "fantasy" art that would call to me, but an art with a particular revelatory power. I longed for an art that would contemplate the jewel of wisdom hidden within and reveal the glory and mystery of being, an art sublimed with grace and beauty, subtle, yet profoundly ecstatic and mythically bold in its declaration. ..

My early interest in all things arcane and mystical arose from my sensitivity for synchronistic experiences and profound vivid dreams, which in turn lead me to question our common perceptions of reality, imagination and being. I found myself drawn to various esoteric subjects ranging from comparative religion and mythology to Jungian psychology, alchemical and tantric symbolism, exotic physics and the frontiers of consciousness and dream research.

But it was these unique dream experiences that would awaken an undeniable call to devote myself to the development of a numinous artistic vision. A new beginning in my creative journey arose after a series of peak dream experiences that culminated at the age of nineteen. These "supernatural events of the soul" comprised of out-of-body experiences and lucid "waking" dreams, some of which involved brief encounters with mysterious adepts or messengers. On three occasions during my lucid dream practice I awoke enveloped in a fiercely radiant golden light, moving rapidly towards its blazing white center. Upon opening my eyes, I felt what could only be described as a sense of being reborn. Everything around me looked new, and I felt this wonderful sense of peace and clarity that would last for months. Whether real or illusory, these experiences inspired in me an acute sense of the astonishing miraculousness of everything.

To this day I feel that somehow these experiences may have caused an acceleration in the progress of my artwork. Perhaps this leap in my artistic ability was the result of my newfound focus and devotion, but what was unfolding was an imagery that would be the basis of my work today. Many years later, it would be the entheogenic experience that would recharge my inspired reverence for the ecstatic visionary possibilities of the imagination.

Concerning the techniques he uses - the pictures are all acrylic on solid:

The art of painting is usually an additive process, in which layer after layer builds an image. Gonzalez turns this on its head using a subtractive process developed through years of trial and error. His technique involves a gesso-like surface, transparent paints and, most surprisingly, an array of erasers. ..
I began to master the airbrush which allowed me to create a sculptural photographic look with incredible subtlety. It also allowed me to refine values and design with an almost unconscious immediacy that balanced well with my controlled conscious intent. My approach to the creative process is always a fine balance between order and chaos.

It is almost painful to select parts of this text and leave the rest out - but I don´t know, if it would be okay to take just everything - so - for more of his - well - more of him - click the link at the very bottom of this page.

Okay - here a selection of the pictures of his, I like best:

"The Oracle of the Pearl"

"Magia of the Heart"

"The Birth of the Underground Sun" - "The Love of Souls"

"Uli Rising"

"Fravashi"

"The Creatrix"

"The Virgin Queen"

Enjoy!
Source - his website: Galerie Sublimato

**StephL** · 10-29-2013 08:43 PM

Artists that have inspired Andrew Gonzales:

The augurs of this revelatory art that would initially inspire my imagination would be found within the visionary and mystical art traditions and disseminated within the movements of Symbolism, Art Nouveau, Surrealism and Fantastic Art. As a young teenager it was Dali's "Nuclear Mysticism" that first captivated my imagination, then followed by the preeminent work of Ernst Fuchs, William Blake and the mystical idealism of Jean Delville. And later as a young adult, the creative eye of my soul marveled at the prodigious possibilities brought forth by the ominous visions of H.R. Giger, the crystalline vistas of Robert Venosa and the transparent transfigurations of Alex Grey.

The kinship I felt with these artists gave me the conviction and hope that was vital during the initial development of my artistic skills and vision. Their mastery of technique combined with a clear and unique vision was certainly a prime motivating force. Above all, these revelatory artists, as well as many others, inspired my faith in the possibilities of what is yet to come in the art of the soul and spirit.

Seeing only a little picture - it shortly crossed my mind, that it was H. A. Giger in a very good mood ..LOL.gif
Actually - I quite liked H. A. Giger as a young teenager - half unable to look at his pictures - very thrilling:

"The Gin Palace" (?)

Yeh - he´s got to be there as well of course - or was it a "she"?

"Alien"

Bit more of checking out his other "inspiratrixers"..
Assuming you have all seen lots of Dali´s work - I left him out.
Up to now, I was only acquainted with William Blake and Alex Gray - so - now I know more - and it´s delightful!
In this stylistic vein - Max Ernst comes to my mind as well - but him I might picture somewhere else some other day - or not.

Jean Delville

"Parsifal"

"Idol of Perversity"

"Cycle of Passions"

Ernst Fuchs:

"Flaming Cherub over Crystal Flowers"

"Looking Through Space" (The Golden Nose)

William Blake:

From the "Great Red Dragon Series"

Robert Venosa:

"Angels" (?)

?

Alex Grey

"Bardo Being"

?

By the way - I´m sick of having had to search for the titles of several of these pictures - so I simply left out some..

**Raswalt** · 11-07-2013 06:04 AM

nice group of images

**StephL** · 11-07-2013 02:37 PM

Ah - thank you!
Finally somebody likes them!!

And I do not exactly know of so many artists who decidedly state, that their inspiration sprung to a huge part from lucid dreams..

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No really - I am so transfixed by the subtle beauty of Gonzales´ pictures - once the signature function comes back to life - I´ll have something of his for mine.

And also his inspiration-sources are a great bunch - Alex Grey has definitively some fans on here already - before I went about this thread, I didn´t know him, but downloaded two avatar-pics of his because they are so beautiful.

**Oneironaut Zero** · 11-07-2013 02:56 PM

VERY cool stuff! Some of those pictures are just beautiful.

Also, lucid dreaming is a huge inspiration for some of my own artwork. I'm not quite as skilled as the above-mentioned artists, but here's some of my stuff, if you'd like to check it out. dreamwalkerinc

There are a couple of images that were lifted straight from my dreams (mainly in the fantasy/fiction section), but they aren't quite labelled as such.

**StephL** · 11-07-2013 07:12 PM

Originally Posted by Oneironaut Zero

VERY cool stuff! Some of those pictures are just beautiful.

Also, lucid dreaming is a huge inspiration for some of my own artwork. I'm not quite as skilled as the above-mentioned artists, but here's some of my stuff, if you'd like to check it out. dreamwalkerinc

There are a couple of images that were lifted straight from my dreams (mainly in the fantasy/fiction section), but they aren't quite labelled as such.

OH WOW!!!

These are great - you are greatly skilled!
Thank you for putting up the link!

I esp. like the above ones - but this one below is plain magnificent:

**juroara** · 11-08-2013 12:31 AM

Andrew Gonzales! It was awesome meeting him in person! He's like my personal art-hero. I was a fan of his work and then I found out he's from my city. All excited that he's local I emailed him and bugged him. At first he didn't email me back, no problem I figured. I mean, he's pretty famous among the visionary art so I wasn't surprised, I'm sure he's busy.

A while passes and out of the blue he emails me. He had recommended my painting to a gallery owner for an upcoming show (thanks andrew!). The gallery owner was already expecting my submission! I got into the art show and surprise surprise, Andrew is a part of it. Thats like, a nerdy art dream come true.

Alex Grey also came to my city, I didn't get to meet him because his crowd of fans is too huge. I did get to hear him talk. Nothing like an artist shamelessly loving DMT!

**StephL** · 11-08-2013 01:53 PM

This is fantastic juroara - what wonderful coincidence to live so close to your "heroes" and actually meeting Gonzales - and even him helping you get a footing - just wow!
Do you have a link to your artwork as well?
Or a thread on here?
Would love to see!!

Edit: I just saw next door - your avatar and sig are yours and they are soo beautiful - I saved them on my pc upon first seeing..
You will be very successful - I´m not an art-critic - but I simply know it!!

Lovely creatures!

2nd Edit: I came across him on MAPS - having been there for the science they do in the first place - but getting instantly hooked by his art.

**Oneironaut Zero** · 11-08-2013 04:47 PM

Thanks for the kind words, StephL!

**LucidHealer** · 12-10-2013 01:26 AM

Originally Posted by StephL

I came across an artist yesterday, who´s paintings instantly captivated me - A. Andrew Gonzales.
Interestingly - he states that lucid dreaming was one of his chief inspirations for his sublime and ethereal masterpieces.

Enjoy!

Thank you so much for sharing these. Wow.

**Djaxup** · 07-23-2014 01:14 PM

Uh lots of my favorite Artists in this Thread. Mr. Gonzales is new to me, thanks a lot for the images. Absolutely cool and unique.

I also like Christopher Shy a lot:

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csdi52.jpg

Just do a google picture search for him

**StephL** · 07-23-2014 03:04 PM

Mmh - beautiful - thank you, Djaxup!
Are you aware of ~Dreamer~ running an art thread? You might enjoy taking a look and contributing, too: http://www.dreamviews.com/artists-co...ou-admire.html

Box77 was so sweet to tell me, who created this one - I had just screen-shotted it from a video - he is called Cameron Grey and fits in here perfectly, I find!

'Self-Observation'

I think, this is somebody's avatar on here - 'The Body and the Self'

'Hope For The Sound Awakening'

'Year of the Dragon'

?

Edit: Super- sweet new avatar and signature, juroara!!

**Djaxup** · 07-23-2014 03:33 PM

yeah this is surely fitting the theme of this board. Very nice

I also adore Timothy Bradstreets gritty pictures. Nothing too dreamy, but dark in theme usually. love them.

One of the coolest female vampires ever drawn
helena.jpg

John-Constantine-cover-by-Tim-Bradstreet.jpg

**StephL** · 07-25-2014 03:22 PM

Hm - not my thing - but it can't all be my thing - that would be weird!

**IAmCoder** · 07-25-2014 04:05 PM

Some masters in here.

This one is my favorite, by Justin Bonnet - Lucid Synchronized Dimensionalism on LSD blotter:

I hope to use it for my product one day!

**StephL** · 07-26-2014 01:03 AM

Howowow - IAmCoder - perfect - another one of his:

**RelaxAndDream** · 08-24-2015 08:07 PM

here is one with whose art i get in touch last weekend while lets say my consciousness was extended and i was massively flashed by his art:

Boris Indrikov

cards