To kickstart 2023, Venezuelan /Australian, Brooky-based artist Miguel Gonzalez lights up the cover. Better known as M-Lon, he’s a B.A.D. boy through and through, La Crème Creative of the crop.
The best thing about the Northern Beaches?
Everyone’s easy going mode. I believe it has to do with our proximity to the sea, it allows us to breathe easier.
How long have you lived here?
In March it will be 10 years living on this side of the planet.
What inspired the cover?
I see Tawny Frogmouth, the mag, as a hip, funky character that likes to walk, surf and skate around the Beaches, bringing a small sample of local culture to the Northern Beaches. So, I went and gave it a character!
What inspires your art in general?
Almost everything. It could be a movie, a book, an article, a song, a protest going on somewhere in the world, different emotions, moods, or it could be a new digital tool that makes me want to use it to create.
How would you describe your art?
Spontaneous. I work with many tools and within various styles, always looking for new challenges. I would describe my art as cartoonish, figurative, traditional, and digital, with a conceptual touch, full of colour, depth, and movement.
Which artist (dead or alive) would you most like to have dinner with and why?
Undoubtedly, Maestro Carlos Cruz-Diez (recently deceased), colour theorist and recognised as one of the most important figures of the kinetic art movement. Beyond studying his work, I would love to have known him up close as a human being, an artist, and a Venezuelan.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m working on exhibitions that will include animation, installations, augmented reality, and art with artificial intelligence. The past few months, I have focused a lot on B.A.D. (Brookvale Arts District). I have worked at Brookvale for almost 9 years and have seen the rise of the creative population that continues to emerge and adapt to this industrial environment. Our suburb is becoming more vibrant in many sectors.
What’s your favourite thing about what you do?
I do a lot of things! But my favourite thing about co-running a not-for-profit creative space (La Crème Creative) is having an extended artistic family that I can share with almost every day. What I love most about B.A.D. as a community project is how much I’m learning from bringing together an entire district and the people I’ve met. As an illustrator and animator, it excites me that each project is a very different creative challenge from the last.
What would like to see in the future of the Beaches art scene?
A huge art movement that would be impossible for anyone to miss. A landmark in time. Artists collaborating with businesses, art on walls, roller doors, rooftops; live music indoors and outdoors, exhibition in every corner, theatre taking over the streets and so much more.
What advice do you have for young or aspiring artists?
Do it. Go for it. We need you. It’s as complex and important as any other career, maybe even more difficult, but it’s up to us to change that and make it different. I am an architect and an artist, and nothing beats being able to express myself through my work without ‘filters’.
Any words of wisdom for Tawny readers?
Just breathe.
*Follow Miguel’s work on Instagram @mlon and visit his website www.m-lon.com.au
IMAGE 01 CREDIT: KAYAPA CREATIVE STUDIO