With a background in art history and a passion for personal narrative ritual, Gregory Hatch is a fiber and performance artist who explores how pattern, texture, and material sit within our memory (individual and collective). Born and raised in Akron, Ohio and currently living in Cleveland, his work explores the nature of desire, obsession, voyeurism, and longing. Recently his practice returned to using narrative and storytelling as a way of sharing a personal history.

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Something Old, Something New

This week really highlights two behaviors that have been consistent in my practice

1. Revisiting/reusing old work.

2. Having multiple projects going at the same time.

I am continuing to edit down the performance The Great Lakes Wild Man. Right now it’s a lot of me on the computer working on the power point and editing it down. I have been trying to consider what type of evidence the Wild Man would leave behind and how it would relate to the action of Cruising.

That's when I got the idea to use a collection of photos I have taken on my phone for the past two years. When I was employed I was struggling with down time. Even with applying for jobs, maintaining the house, and drawing I was still feeling restless. That's when I started taking walks. It was during these walks I started noticing a particular type of litter. Discarded condoms and their wrappers. I don't know why but I started to take photograph each one I found. I currently have about 36 photos (I actually had more, but lost them when a phone died).

I realized that these would work really well for my performance. Paranormal investigation is often looking for material evidence of the phenomena and these objects would be the perfect evidence for my Great Lakes Wild Man.

Also this week I started reflecting on a body of work that I did back in 2016. The Faerie Ring Project. It was a workshop style performance where participants either created or decorated papier-mâché toadstools. A few themes I was exploring at the time were space making, LGBTQA community and community making, and craft as a catalyst for social interaction.

I really enjoyed this mode of art making and performance and I am excited to revisit it. I am currently revamping this work by increasing its theatrics and the fantasy/narrative elements. I am planning on creating toadstool that will define the area where the workshop/social interaction will take place.