We had the good fortune of connecting with Gili Wolf and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Gili, what principle do you value most?
Realness. Which is another way of saying “authenticity,” but since that is such an over-used word, let’s go with “realness.”
For better or worse, I have never been especially good at acting, pretending or faking anything. And truthfully, in this culture, I’m not sure that has always benefitted me. Life is messy. The world is messy. I’d prefer to just accept the good, the bad and the ugly, and respond accordingly. So why does that matter to me? Pretending feels deadening. And awkward. I don’t want to feel awkward, I want to feel real connection. That’s where the good stuff is for us humans.
I think all of us want to be seen and accepted in the full expression of who we are, and when we hide some aspect of it, we’re cutting off a bit of our own innate divinity. When we are unpretentiously ourselves, we are able to contribute the most to everyone else and to ourselves.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My work as an artist is strongly influenced by my many years as an art director and graphic designer, bridging those two worlds through a vibrant visual commentary on modern consumption and identity. My artwork is a fusion of painting, drawing, and mixed media, but never really ascribing to one easily-defined medium. Flat, graphic and bold in its nature, my work is informed by the colors and patterns of everyday life, the barrage of marketing, social media, and hypnagogia and hypnopompia — the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep, and the transition from sleep to wakefulness.
In my art, I delve into the commercialization and consumption that saturate our society, but in abstract, and not immediately obvious ways. I approach my work with the curiosity of a sort of cultural anthropologist, finding beauty and potential in the mundane. I am interested in the potential of materials, often overlooked, leftover or discarded; transforming it, elevating it or simply using it up, and providing a spotlight for their newfound purpose. In practice, this means using what’s at my disposal, and finding creative tension within those limits. Limitations are what create interesting results in design, and I bring that approach into how I work as artist. The art itself is a result of my observations about the overwhelm of overconsumption and waste, and the possibilities that come from seeing just about anything as having potential to become something else.
I’m proud of having tried my hand at a few murals in the last few years, and while I may continue to seek out those kinds of projects here and there, I am mostly focused on my studio work and getting out the ideas that have been brewing in my head for a long time.
As far as how did I get to where I am professionally, I’m still in the process of getting there! I studied fine art in college and grad school, but I’ve worked as a designer for 25 years, which has required most of my time and focus. In the last couple years I’ve been carving out more time for my art. The reintroduction to making art started with a sketchbook practice at my dining table, and then led to getting a studio. I have committed time in the studio each week and still work on the sketchbook and small pieces at home. My aim is to allocate more and more time to making art, but it is an inch-by-inch process and a bit of a juggling act with my “day job” as an independent designer.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shoutout to my teammates and collaborators at The Alkimie Collective — Georgina Miller and Diane Pauley, and to Vanessa Louis-Woolley who was one of our founding members.
In all the years I worked as an independent designer, I perceived that just providing the visual part of branding wasn’t comprehensive enough to solve clients’ branding problems, and I longed to find a committed, honest, hard-working strategy partner to team up with me. In 2020, at the start of the pandemic, I found not one, but THREE partners who are all of that and more.
Since then, Vanessa moved onto some other things in her career, but Georgina, Diane and I are still truckin’ with Alkimie. I’m grateful to all these women for the brains and brilliance they have brought and continue to bring to our collective. They’re just all around good humans and I am fortunate to have them as teammates.
I also want to give a shoutout to my friend Shari Soroka who has never failed to show up with a paintbrush in hand. In the summer heat or winter cold she has spent hours helping me paint a wall or electrical box in some pretty random and obscure locales in Boulder County.
Website: https://www.giliwolfstudio.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giliwolfstudio
Other: https://www.alkimie.co