William LeGoullon

Raised in the Phoenix area, William LeGoullon has developed a personal obsession with and appreciation for the spaces we often refer to as desert. Since receiving his BFA from Arizona State University in 2009 where he studied under Mark Klett and Bill Jenkins, he has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally including exhibitions in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Fort Collins, Santa Barbara, Seattle, and Belgrade, Serbia. His work has earned him a variety of awards, recognitions, and publications, including an Emerging Artist Grant from The Phoenix Art Museum’s Contemporary Forum. In addition to exhibiting his own works, LeGoullon also explores independent curatorial work. He has served as a member of The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art’s Artist Advisory Council and is an Eye Lounge Artist Collective and Contemporary Art Gallery Alumni. He plans to continue living and working in the Phoenix area, creating works concerned with the conscious and unconscious realities of the southwestern landscape. Today we take a look at William’s series titled Nearing Dissonance.

Nearing Dissonance

Traditionally the term desert has referenced a place that is deserted, without people, and unpopulated. However, now, more than ever, the idea of an empty landscape is far less accurate. LeGoullon views the desert as a transformative space. He believes that while we shape this land, nature continues to co-sculpt along side us. “Nearing Dissonance” reflects on the inherent symbolism and continually challenged identities of the southwestern landscape. It is an environment wherein the passing of time is remarkably visible.

As its geography unceasingly begs to be considered a frontier, we are presented with contemporary narratives concerning symmetry in nature and the human experience, paralleled by the romanticized and familiar persona of the once wild west. Ruled by the sun, this terrain endures in similar fashion as we do. It is a place of rebirth, transcendence, and adaptation, but it is also untamed, allowing for an often-dissonant correlation between it and us. We cannot resist the challenge that is this land. It is relentless, just as we are. By questioning concepts of permanence and uncertainty, this on-going body of work examines the conscious and unconscious realities of what this desert stage provides.

To view more of William’s work please visit his website.