W.Gerome Temple has been workings as an illustrator and painter for more than ten years, and currently resides in Savannah, Georgia with his wife Christen.
Oil Enamel Paintings
The oil enamel paintings use basic shapes and fields of glossy color to create compositions filled with tension and a simple complexity. The paintings contain a three-dimensional quality acquired from a process of layering viscous enamel paint on paper with meticulous care. The intense layering process, entirely painted by hand without the use of masking aids, reveals a feeling of classic modernism.
Illustrations
Air & Atmosphere Club:
Temple explores early ideas of flight where each image honors a member of the AAC (Air & Atmosphere Club) and their accomplishment of attempting a new form of the flying machine. Inspiration for this series comes from imagining the time when flight was still a mystery and many were experimenting with form and function while seeking personal notoriety.
Antiquity & Technology:
Resulting from time spent exploring and wandering the historical Industrial Revolution site in the Black Country of England, Temple’s Antiquity & Technology illustrations reveal a blend of architecture and mechanical nonsensical function. All of Temple’s drawings come forth from a world where antiquity meets crude but futuristic technology, an era that that escaped history. The characters are living their daily lives in this otherworldly atmosphere - each carrying out their duty while incorporated into one carefully balanced society.
Circus:
Temple’s Circus illustrations create an imaginary world, both antiquated and futuristic, where time and space collapse in a jubilant celebration. It is a utopian vision involving a complex, almost architectural arrangement of performers, weights, balloons, and ornaments. Temple’s keen sense of balance, evident in the care he takes in arranging lines on the page, ultimately drafts a noble architecture of humanity.
Fictional Entomologies & Botanicals:
Inspired by a lifetime fascination with natural history and antique bookplate etchings. Temple honors the tradition of the Naturalist through his in-depth study of biologically correct drawings and living insects. He then takes this foundation of observation and creates fictional forms of discovered life, often accompanied by narratives that articulate unique qualities of the newly formed creations.
Biomechanicals & Abstracts:
In these images Temple playfully combines components from his other repertoires. By merging elements from the different genres, Temple creates fascinating and whimsical illustrations that showcase his imaginative vigor.
As a whole, Temple’s work represents something novel; something the viewer has not before encountered. This is a glimpse of a vast reserve of creative thought that is potentially limitless. If you are interested in seeing more work by W. Gerome Temple, contact him by email for a private studio visit.
