Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Bo Gonzo

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Bo Gonzo. Check out our conversation below.

Bo, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: Are you walking a path—or wandering?
I think I’m wandering with intention. A path feels too straight, too predetermined, and my art has never really fit neatly into one lane, necessarily. I choose contrasting colors, and thick bold lines & then I’m patiently stippling (pen & ink- dots) for hours . I’ve found that not limiting myself to just one, by combining these styles I’ve created some of my most favorite pieces. Anyways, wandering allows me to explore, freedom to experiment with the plethora of art mediums & styles, while also consistently challenging myself.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a full-time mixed-media artist from San Antonio. I recently started experimenting with stippling. Using just dots with pen and ink, (also confused with pointilism, where paint is the only tool to create the dots.) Anyways, I found a whole new way to create depth and detail. Although, it’s super time-consuming its kind of therapeutic to be able to practice patience and to see your art come to life. Its a huge difference from what I used to do, which was paint mostly with acrylics on canvas, recreating pop culture icons in horror and anime but after running out canvases & fresh out of ideas I jumped onto more personal things. I recently started working on my issues with backgrounds, so I started using collages to build them out, which ended up enhancing the whole piece and giving it more life. These days I bounce between mediums, my work sometimes pulls from pop culture, and classical influences like Michelangelo, driven by themes of isolation, with a clash of consumerism and religion. Even then, my themes, influences might change the beginning of next year! I just keep evolving, and experimenting.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
As a child, I believed that my messiness, my intensity, the parts of me that didn’t fit neatly were wrong and had to be suppressed. I was often told, ‘Girls don’t do this,’ ‘Girls are supposed to be that,’ and it became a constant battle to fit into someone else’s expectations of who I should be. I didn’t want the cultural expectations that is put on girls, stay small, stay quiet and that’ll get you the comfortable life you want as someone’s wife. But, not as my own being and I didn’t like the sound of that. Was that all I was going to be? Hell no.
What’s changed is the relationship I’ve built with myself over the years by allowing space to feel, express who I am and not leaving any room for shame. I worked on acknowledging my strengths & weaknesses, solidified my beliefs & morals! Just becoming so unbreakable in my spirit that I move with the kind of confidence that comes from knowing exactly who I am. This has taken YEARS and I’m still a work in progress! I’m in a healthier, more loving place, where I no longer see my messiness as something to hide. Instead, turning what once felt like weakness & survival into just being.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I hit a rough patch in 2023. My art felt flat, minimal and empty as well as my personal life. I wanted more but that required more energy than I could offer. The year I thought it was best to quit, I found myself still trying to learn new art styles, like stippling. There was a sort of peace to it, just dots and patience. But then I met someone very special, who reminded me theres power in imagery, there’s power in creativity, and theres power in art. I posses a talent, why am I not doing more?! So with the discussion of pain and power, theres a lot of love now, too! Now my art feels chaotic, and loud. Colorful but dark. I started using what was pain, channeled it into love and continue that into my artwork. I feel like I’ve always been an open book but to make myself completely vulnerable, through art, feels very poweful.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
Maybe this is oldhead type thinking, but the biggest lie is that artists are supposed to double as influencers. We’re told the grind is part of the craft, but really it kinda feels like a trap…create content, feed the algorithm, sell yourself before you even sell the art. It sorta warps creation into performance, and suddenly you’re making what the internet wants. I feel like it’s pandering dressed up as progress. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy making my own lil tiktok reels, and IG posts, its fun to be creative in that way, 100%! Like all things, theres pros & cons. Its a quick way to get interact with thousands of other artists at once, join communities, and learn new techniques. For me personally, I’m just not letting the algorithm dictate what I should create, anymore. “More horror”, “more anime!”, etc. I don’t want to be shoved into one genre, one style as a mixed media artist, it just isn’t me. I tried to just be a pop culture artist and I was bored. It’s cliche but important, remember who you are, and why you create!

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
People might mistake my legacy as chasing shock or darkness for its own sake. I’m creating the pain I carry. I think people will misunderstand that it’s just about the imagery, a shock value type thing but in reality it’s built to expose, to confront, to drag something raw into the open. Some will only see the surface and miss the pulse underneath. I’m not here to play safe or be easy to digest. My life has been chaotic, & painful. My legacy isn’t up for anyone’s approval, it’s mine, and it’ll still be speaking even once I’m no longer Earth side! My legacy will be that I love my craft, I love what I do and I truly put my all (blood, ink and tears) into each and every piece I’ve made.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bonniegonzo9
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bonniegonzo9