Originally from Hartford, Connecticut, and currently based in Los Angeles, Holden creates work that serves as a playful rebellion against a world obsessed with perfection. Having never formally studied fine arts, Holden’s practice is rooted in a raw, gestural immediacy—a style that prioritizes the energy of the mark over the rigidity of formal technique.
Holden, who graduated from the University of Vermont, uses subtle observation to produce works that are both whimsical and thought-provoking. His pieces often conflate ubiquitous cultural references with deeply personal abstractions, inviting the viewer to find meaning in the imperfect. He has exhibited at The Institute Library (New Haven), Paul Loya Gallery (Los Angeles), San Diego Art Institute Museum (San Diego), Lyons Wier Gallery (New York), New Britain Museum of American Art.
Gordon Holden American Contemporary Abstract Acrylic and Enamel on Dye Sublimated Fleece Painting, Titled: “Horse Blanket Painting #17”. (2025)
Gordon Holden American Contemporary Abstract Acrylic and Enamel on Dye Sublimated Fleece Painting, Titled: “Horse Blanket Painting #4”. (2024)
Our Interview with Gordon Holden
What inspired you to become an artist, and what motivated you to pursue this career path?
I’ve always been interested in images that carry history before I touch them. Horses, in particular, arrive already loaded with motion, myth, labor, freedom. Becoming an artist wasn’t about inventing new symbols, but about reworking existing ones until they felt unstable again. The motivation has always been to stay inside that instability.
Do you have a favorite artist and why?
I like the people who can’t leave a surface alone. Giacometti, maybe. He tried to find the core of a person until there was almost nothing left. I like that tension, the desire to possess an image so badly that you almost destroy it in the process of making it yours. I’m drawn to artists who let images stay unresolved—where gesture and repetition matter more than explanation.
How would you describe your creative process, and what techniques or mediums do you enjoy using the most?
The process starts with repetition. I use the same horse imagery again and again, printed through sublimation onto fleece, then worked over with acrylic. The fleece absorbs and softens the image, it collapses clarity, while the paint reasserts gesture and resistance. I like materials that already carry utility and then pushing them into the space of painting.
What themes or messages do you hope to convey through your art, and what kind of emotions do you want your audience to experience when they view your work?
These works aren’t necessarily about narrative; they’re about tension. Movement versus containment. Familiar imagery interrupted by mark making and putting yourself into it. I want the viewer to recognize the image immediately and then feel it slipping away. flattened, disrupted, pushed out of alignment. The emotion is less awe and more unpredictability, repetition, insistence.
Can you share a specific project or piece that you are particularly proud of, and what makes it meaningful to you?
The horse blanket paintings. The strength of this body of work comes from its accumulation. Each piece is part of a sequence. Same image, altered surface, different interruptions. What matters is how the horses begin to feel less like representations and more like marks themselves. The meaning comes from staying with the image long enough for it to resist me back.
What was the first project you worked on?
I tried to paint a bird that I saw in a book when I was younger. I kept painting it over because it wasn't "right," and eventually, it just became a bunch of defective birds that looked more like abstract shapes. But that felt more like a bird than the original bird drawing ever did.
How do you stay inspired and motivated, and what advice would you give to aspiring artists who are just starting out?
I don’t rely on inspiration at this point, but it is imperative when you are starting out. I rely on repetition and friction. If an image keeps returning, I pay attention. My advice: don’t chase novelty and trends. Work the same idea until it becomes uncomfortable. That discomfort is usually where the work actually begins.
What do you like to do in your free time/ outside of work?
I walk. Whether it's on a hike or at the mall I look at how light hits the side of a building or how a person leans against a lamppost. I’m always collecting. I’m interested in how figures and things occupy space.
How would you define your work in three words?
Obsessive. Borrowed. Layered.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I don’t remember wanting a title. I remember wanting to stay inside things longer like images and ideas without being told what they were supposed to mean.
