We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Connor Gagne. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Connor below.

Hi Connor, thanks for joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

One thing my parents did right, especially knowing so many other artists who were told they couldn’t be artists, is making sure I was on the path that would make me happy, not just make me money. My mother is a full-time musician, and my father spends his free time building countless amenities and infrastructure on his farm in Tennessee. He is also musical, though he prefers a quieter life on his farm. I am incredibly fortunate to have two artistic parents who believe I can do what makes me happy, and they are both a massive reason why I was able to graduate with my MFA and launch myself into the art world.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

A lot of artists usually call themselves by a name based on their craft, a painter, videographer, photographer, sculptor, etc. I strongly believe that the medium becomes relevant when deciding what to talk about through art. For me, the art drives the medium, not the other way around. My background is primarily in photography, though I have made sculptures, performance art, paintings, leather-bound books, and, of course, photographic prints.
I first became enamoured with art in my senior year of high school. I took a photography class and spent time with a digital camera and Photoshop, as well as spending numerous hours in the darkroom making film prints. After deciding I should probably go to college, I settled on game design and development. After 3 classes of coding, I realized that it wasn’t for me. I made the decision to switch to photography at a new school after sitting in my dorm room looking at all of my photography I had hung on the wall. It was the best decision I have made. Now I am currently making artwork that focuses on light optics and images, and how we interact with them and view the world.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think one of the most rewarding things about being an artist is being able to create a space to have conversations about things that people generally don’t talk about. My work, for instance, is currently talking about the potential future family and thinking about how to build that, and what it looks like emotionally. There are certain things that come up in everyone’s life that they move through and figure out as they go, but no one seems to discuss those things, at least in my experience. I think art is a wonderful tool to have those conversations in a thought-provoking way.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

“The Creative Act: A Way Of Being” by Rick Rubin is a book every artist should read. For me, I haven’t even read through all of it. I consider it more of a handbook, and I will sift through it from time to time when I feel stuck. It talks about being a creative, and it poses questions about making art and thinking about art that really make me dive deep into my own values and what drives me to make art. It has been an amazing motivator for making art when I am in a rut.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.clgphotographs.com
• Instagram: @clg.photographs
• Facebook: Connor Gagne Photography