Meeting Gojira – A Conversation with Craig Nagasawa
Interview in “Works and Conversations” Magazine
I am honored to have an in-depth interview featured in Richard Whittaker’s unparalleled Works and Conversations magazine. Meeting Gojira – A Conversation with Craig Nagasawa was published in November, 2018.
This wide-ranging conversation begins with my recollections of growing up in Salt Lake City’s Japantown, working at my parent’s fish market, and winning a skiing scholarship. We explore my artistic influences and the ways in which I began to share my personal history through my work, incorporating traditional Japanese art forms and motifs, including Gojira as a stand-in for myself. We discuss the inspiration I draw from the natural world, and the ways I experiment with natural pigments and techniques to create a synthesis of traditional and modern mediums.
“People used to ask me, ‘How could you go from being a ski racer to making art?’ To me, it was the same thing, because you focused and trained every day. I go to my studio every day and it’s the same thing—really concentrating in the moment. And when it finally works, the consciousness stuff falls off and there’s this other thing taking its place.”
I am grateful to Richard Whittaker for providing an opportunity to delve into my creative process.
To read the full interview, I recommend downloading the pdf. The text is also available online.