We were lucky to catch up with Trey Gordon recently and have shared our conversation below.
Trey, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I’d say that my resilience comes from my struggles in life. Whenever I experience hardship or any sort of challenge I sort of internalize it and let it fuel what I do whether it be my art or my job at the time. A situation that sticks with me to this day and has greatly influenced me today was when I was ostracized from a church for being LGBT+. I was coming into my sexuality then and they did not like the fact that I was sort of leading a double life. I knew I wasn’t straight and they soon learned that as well. They excluded me from everything I used to hold dear and I suddenly found myself alone. The circles I used to be in were closed of and the people I cared for acted as if I was diseased. I was depressed so I threw myself into places where they weren’t. Which was my art and work. The pain I felt from not being accepted by people I used to respect only fueled how hard I worked and it eventually fueled my artwork. That situation happened many years ago but it still haunts me. I tried to work the pain away but I realized that it’s not a healthy way to work through my problems. Art helped with that. I put a lot of work into my art and it showed. My pain and how I coped with what happened to me is prevalent in my pieces. I want the people that see my work to see what I’ve gained from my trauma and how I’m still pushing on despite the choices I’ve made and how others have treated me. Hopefully I can give others hope.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a LGBT+ African American Artist from Monroe, Louisiana. Currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. My work mainly focuses on mentality, relationships and social issues. It is heavily inspired by my experiences growing up in a Black Christian household in the south, and some of the mental challenges I’ve faced and still battle with.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I’d say Motivation, Ambition, and Introversion. These seemed to be my unspoken motto in college. I kept my social circle small and did what I needed to do when it came to my artwork. Motivated myself even when it seemed impossible. Being ambitious was hard for me at the start. I didn’t really have people backing the decisions I made. So I had to pick myself up a lot of the time. The situation with the church forced me to just keep to myself, but the people that truly mattered ended up finding me and I am forever grateful. If I was giving someone advice I would tell them to stick to their goals and if those goals change that’s okay too, make sure you have a good support system whether that be one person or twenty, and you don’t have to be friendly all the time. Sometimes you need to do what is best for YOU and be on your own for a bit and re-learn how to be around others.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
Vitus Shell is my hero when it comes to art. He opened my eyes to my artwork and who I am as a artist. If he didn’t tell me to switch from graphic design to studio art I would not be in the position I am today. Taking his art classes helped me realized so many things about myself and what I didn’t know.
Contact Info:
- Website: blueecrayonz.carrd.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blueecrayonz/
