Daily Inspiration: Meet Alexander Gore

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexander Gore

Hi Alexander, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I Started painting in 2018 at a really dark time in my life, at this time in my life I Was experiencing psychosis. I had only painted here and there, but in 2018 I started painting every single day. I called my art ‘shit art’ because I didn’t think it was any good- i had a really low self-esteem and hated myself and my artwork. Even with my low self-esteem, I decided to put my artwork into the world, by sharing my work on Facebook and Instagram. I say that art saved me, because it helped me find my voice. I made art about my own experiences with my mental health, showing my following my perspective on my life- though the lens of psychosis. I started making prints of my work and started selling them to friends and family- and later supporters.
At this time, i was taking a break from getting my undergrad in sociology. time went on, and I was healing as well coming out of the psychosis, I decided to go back to school- but to take a leap of faith and changed my major to art with a concentration in painting.
fast forward to today, my art is still evolving, but very abstract and I still make art about mental health, as well as relationships.
I am now in grad school to become a therapist but that doesn’t mean I’m not still pursuing art.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As mentioned, my journey with art as not been a easy road. I struggled with my mental health even after I came out the psychosis I experienced in 2018. and its an ongoing journey, I still struggle with my mental health to this day, however art became my outlet. A way to express my pain, my experiences on a canvas. And through that, I find peace

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Right now, I work as a caregiver while I am in school studying to be a therapist, I also sell my artwork online, at art fairs and on my website.
I think what sets me apart in the work I do, is that I have a concentration in Buddhist psychology, basically specializing in compassion. However I plan to specialize in extreme states of mind, to help other people who have had experiences similar to my own, as well as a specialization in the queer community (which I am also a part of) .

How do you define success?
Success is up to each individual, it looks differently for everyone, but for me, I think that I measure success in growth. Personal growth, growth as an artist, etc.

Pricing:

• Not really!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/phantasmagoreia
• Instagram: @phantasmagoreia

Image Credits
All photos are my own