“Drawing for me has always been inextricably tied to how I process and view the world. Therefore, it has always served as both a source of comfort and catharsis in a world that often is nonsensical and grim but also magnificent, absurd, and very often funny. Early on, I became aware of life’s impermanence from listening to stories my nana would retell of her experience during the Blitzkrieg in London. She would describe smoldering ruins in the wake of a bombing or how her drunken brother would be cursing the German bombers from the roof—often describing scenes in great detail or imbuing humor to provide levity. I remember listening to these stories while eating chocolates at the foot of her bed; unfortunately, she passed away when I was 9. Shortly after, I was diagnosed with acute mylegenous leukemia. While being treated at the hospital, I was often shifted from room to room. Every room had a different wallpaper. These patterns, vertical stripes, stars, and polka dots, can instantaneously bring me back to those rooms. Waking life blurred with dreams. These memories, stories, and moments, both painful and cherished, obfuscated over time. I reference all of these fragments in my drawings, etchings, paintings, and collages.
Both before and after treatment, art became a way to process not only my past but my own queerness. My work revolves around my fascination with illness, corporality, and death as well as how it relates to queer love and humor. Dreams, faded memories, desires, silly anecdotes, tragedies either autobiographical, referenced, or imagined in nature materialize through drawn, etched, and carved lines as well as the bleeding and translucency of watercolor on paper. Vulnerability is conveyed in the work through evidence of hand and subject matter. Whether a piece depicts densely drawn skeletons, remembered, abstracted interiors, or etchings or doll like paper figures all of the work displays a naked sincerity. My only goal is for the work to be strong enough for each piece to transmit a feeling of shared humanity in all its tragic, comedic, grisly and exquisite glory.”
Grant Barbour is a drawer, printmaker, occasional puppeteer, and animator. His work has been exhibited throughout the southeast, midwest, and in New York City. He currently lives and works in Asheville, North Carolina with his dog, Ditto.