We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gunnice. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gunnice below.
Gunnice, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
No other practice has taught me devotion more than tattooing. Beyond the initial excitement in building your own brand and curating an aesthetic, without a foundation in mastering the technical side of things, the work is already compromised. It’s important to me that I’m not so attached to an outcome that I risk shortcutting on the details that really matter. The world as we’ve known it is burning before our eyes, and people are becoming more and more starved for beauty. I’ve never wanted to be so consumed with it all to the point of becoming enslaved to an audience, and the algorithm.
Gunnice, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m Gunnice, a creative native to DFW. I specialize in illustrative black and grey tattoos to create timeless, custom artwork.
Beyond the ink alone, I’ve been into creating work with themes on the dark feminine, and the endless dimensions of the subconscious that are so often dismissed as taboo; the grotesque, off-putting and even monstrous.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Idolatry, and all of its ingrained rituals within American culture. In the very way that I’m not obligated to fit any fantasy projected onto me, that goes for my own process and expectations of others. I do trust in the timing of things, and that it’s safe to show up for the work and quiet the voice of the insatiable ego, and all of its endless greed, indulgences and distractions. I’m relearning that its all valid, even when it’s not praised, received well, or even particularly impressive.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Reclaiming just what it means to me to continue creating art in a way that’s my own, and not solely for the sake of consumption in the age of the Internet.
Cultivating a more engaging relationship to the work from my own perspective, and not for the sake of what’s trending, or in staying consistent to any one of the single tropes force-fed to us by media and culture. All too often when you’re unpredictable, you’re ultimately cast off. I never wanted external praise to determine just how much the work has meant to me, alone.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.osunwusi.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baldheadedauntie/
