Gagoghs
The one who stutters.
my Story
“I’m no artist. I am a Painter. The images that I create do not come from me, but through Life itself. I’m a nobody. My job is to not get in the way. ” ~ Gagoghs
Early years
From a young age, Patrick was a skateboarder. He played baseball, and motorsports when he wasn’t joking and making his friends and family laugh. He grew up in LA, where he’d pick the fruits off of the orange trees that lined the streets. Food was scarce in his home, and the trees supplied him with sustenance. His Violent childhood home can be seen in his work.
With a Schizophrenic and predatory mother deeply entrenched in the Baptist Church, he struggled. His father, being a painter, himself, was not without his own violent tendencies. The Painter’s childhood prepared him to accurately view the violence in the world; it sent him on a path of deep introspection and seeking. Gagoghs’ experience with his mother inspired his Novel, Jumpers’ Teeth. The novel provides a deeply philosophical perspective that takes the reader through a disjunct and disorienting journey. The reader feels similar to that of a schizophrenic mind in the throws of Psychosis.
Adulthood
While his work is deeply intense and violent to observe, Gagoghs himself held a joyful presence as much as possible. He was always filled with joy and life when he engaged with others. Passionate about the power of comedy and laughter, he’d connect with others through the joy of his bizarre and obscure wit. With a gentle touch, and an insistence of personal accountability, he moved through life as a fully realized being. He’d befriend the homeless, and learn from every living soul he’d encounter as much as possible.
Gagoghs worked in physical labor for much of his life loading trucks for UPS, and in construction. His delicate attention to detail benefitted his work with concrete. Showed here you can see his personal construction work. All of that work supported the creation of his Triangle house in the desert of New Mexico.
Patrick’s first wife, Veronica, entered his life as a child and stayed well into his adulthood. They traveled across the country together enduring the aftermath of the LA earthquake of 1994 in their apartment. Through that time, he’d have several shows of his paintings seeking success. He and some friends committed a reverse Heist of his work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Shortly thereafter they finally settled together in the Taos County Star Community. There he was the go-to handyman. Gagoghs would build chicken coops, do maintenance on friends properties and even built an addition to his own house. He’d never see the addition as a fully realized studio though. The two parted ways and Patrick found himself having to rebuild yet again, only this time fully solo.
Discovery
Taking the time to be more social, he was living in a friend’s loft. There he’d tattoo friends and created a Mural with his friend’s daughter. Youth always held a precious spot in his soul. The children of Taos Artist, Izumi Yokoyama in particular were important fixtures. The importance of being a positive influence on Earth’s children was a responsibility he took extremely seriously whenever presented with the opportunity.
He explored dating while he landed himself an agreement with some New Mexico Land-owners. He would build a Triangle house in exchange for time to do his work for the remainder of his life. Right as he was launching himself into the highest period of production, he found the Love of his life, Janay`.
Janay` supported Gagoghs through the bulk of his work without any expectations. Their relationship flourished and bloomed into a mutually supportive and healthy dynamic as much as can be had. His mission and dedication to his work certainly have created a challenge. Yet the simplicity of love and kindness between them has made it a lasting relationship of pure mutual exchange.
The Bulk
In the Triangle, Gagoghs worked tirelessly between 8-16 hours a day. Painting the images with very small paint brushes, he had some fun with exploring Podcasting. All the while caretaking the property per his agreement, his schedule was full. In the isolation of the desert he could scream to express the intensity of the work. Holding space for the darkness of man energetically was no joke. The inhospitable setting of the high desert, provided him with the isolation needed to produce his work with minimal interruption.
At the end of his life, Gagoghs painted through a period of decline in health. His sleep was plagued by attacks upon his nervous system and his only solace was when his wife was able to pet him through his sleep. He painted out of compulsion to finish as much as he could. By the time he was done a session, sometimes between 6-12 hours, his legs were so weak it was difficult to descend his ladder from the studio.
On May 1st 2024, at about 8:45 p.m. His wife found his truck at the rest area of the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge after waking up from a nap they’d taken together. His body has yet to be found. He is presumed “missing” until his body is found. If you look closely, you’ll find the smiles expressing his joy for life in all of his paintings.
Who is Siren?
Siren is the wife of Gagoghs. Her name is Janay` Mallon. She’s the crazy lady who agreed to take on the insane task of bringing all of Gagoghs’ work out into the world at large. What a wild task to take on huh? Eh, she’s actually the one typing these words and speaking in third person is kind of weird, so let’s flip the script shall we?
A that’s better! I’m the one here that’s built this whole website from the ground up. When you’re reaching out through our “contact me,” page, it’s me you’re reaching out to. Now that’s settled, I’m the one who curates this entire experience as much as I can. I’ve got lots of ideas of installations to create a full experience that brings you, the audience INTO the work. After all, the work is about the human self as the subject.
I’m also an artist myself. I work with sound and with people every moment that I can. I’m writing presently to integrate the loss of my love. I’m also an author and am actively working on several projects. Hell, I’ve had quite the role model. I’ll paint when I can, and pretty much just have fun playing with life itself as much as possible. When I’m not traveling around working with the soil at people’s homesteads and farms around the country, I’m writing music and books, or creating ideas of installations, and performance experiences. I’ll be out in the communities I travel to, working with the community if I can, or performing on the streets if I feel so moved. I’m pretty much as fluid as possible to find my own personal flow. Check out my website here, or check out my own branch of the website found at the menu at the top! If you want a quick link, just click here. You’ll see my blog entries where I talk about my experiences on the road and more. The continuation of Gagoghs’ story is through my own breadth of life.
He’s never really liked the idea of his work being considered as surreal, though it kind of reads like that doesn’t it? His work is more related to its’ subject rather than the style itself. The subject is the inner depths of the shadows of humanity itself; the vices, the debauchery, immorality, and the lies we tend to tell ourselves to justify the ugliness of our actions. Despite the subject matter, he really was a beautiful soul. His love energy is imbued in each and every one of his works. The importance of bringing attention to the inner self is what carried his compulsion to complete these pieces. That’s really the essence of it all.
Could you imagine, being as moral a man as possible, with the endurance to gestate any one of these images within your own body and then the endurance to paint that violence through your own body as well? I watched it for nearly a decade, day in and day out. It was such a feat, that is nearly impossible to consider. The work always took precedence. Our relationship was important as well, but the work was always the driving force. I honestly don’t know how he was able to balance our relationship with the work. It was difficult at times, but mostly easy. It really was easy to be with him and hold space for him and vice versa. I cannot express my gratitude for the time I had with him and how our work continues every day since. For more about me, or this journey, feel free to explore my branch on the website or my own website here. Thanks for reading!
