Today we’d like to introduce you to Gubby Beck.
Gubby, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in upstate New York – where I went to college for Sculpture and learned how to weld. I started traveling after college and found my home in Venice Beach. I was having trouble trying to afford a studio apartment in Venice let alone a studio to weld in – So I started painting on canvas, creating jewelry/keychains to sell on the boardwalk, and started waitressing as a part-time job. I eventually started working in a studio in Woodland Hills, where I had more space to paint in. After living in Venice for three years – my boyfriend and I relocated to a house in the desert where we both have room to create. I now have an outdoor welding shop in my backyard where I am able to build my sculptures and show in frequent gallery shows. Being so close to LA, I am able to bring my work back and forth for clients and gallery showings in the city. I occasionally work for other artists – such as welding for a big installation called “Lodestar” which we brought to Coachella and Burning Man last year. Otherwise, I am a full-time metal artist sending off my sculptures throughout the states.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been quite a rocky road but things are leveling out now. When I was in New York, I worked in a big shop where there was other welders/artists that would help assist me on bigger sculptures when needed. After New York, I was traveling and landed in small western town in Alaska. I had met an older welder who had allowed me to work in his shop for the two months I stayed. After that, I adventured to California, where I fell in love with Venice Beach. Since this moment I had been bouncing from job to job to get me by. I found a relatively cheap studio for Venice and it was still hard to afford while also trying to create. I started painting with canvas on my studio floor as I couldn’t afford any furniture yet. I would also create resin filled keychains and necklaces that I would sell on the boardwalk. Which eventually ended by the police officers trying to take my inventory as you are not allowed to sell jewelry on that side of the boardwalk as it conflicts with the shops. Running low on money, I started waitressing just to get by. I ended up building myself an easel out of skateboard decks and old shelves someone was throwing out. Over time I started working more and had no time to actually create. I started saving money but it still wasn’t enough to rent a welding space – and even if I saved up for my own welder, I wouldn’t have been able to weld in my studio apartment. I was fortunate enough to have my dad living in Woodland Hills – where I spent time painting away from the craziness of Venice.
For a weekend away, my boyfriend brought me out to Joshua Tree. I started looking at properties and realized I could afford a house and it would be cheaper than my studio apartment in Venice. We made the move and I started working for another artist in town and in return I could use her welding shop. It was a great relationship and after a year, I then started welding for another artist locally. Once again, I started to not have time to weld my own artwork and spent all my time working for someone else. I was then asked to pay for my shop time from the first artist I worked for but I had no time to actually go there to create and this put an end to our relationship. For the next half year, I worked for the second artist – building “Lodestar,” which was a 50-foot airplane that stood on its nose reaching for the sky. It was a great experience, but I needed time away to work on my own art. He then allowed me to work in the same shop to weld my own work when I wasn’t working on the airplane. This didn’t last long as I was always getting pulled into working on the plane and it was a constant disrupt from my artwork. I realized I needed a plan. So I asked my landlord for permission to weld at the house. He said I was not allowed to weld in the garage for his fear of me burning down the house – which would not happen but regardless I then asked if I could build in the backyard. He allowed me but I had to make sure everything was up to code and such. After everything – I built a pop-up tent, bought cheap tables from the swap meet, bought my welder and some necessity tools and I was off!
There are always obstacles that come with having an outdoor shop. We get high winds, which my pop-up tent starts trying to blow away in. It doesn’t rain much in the desert but when it does it’ll be for a few days straight and so I’m out of work. My other main challenge – that is currently happening – is the table I weld on. It’s not a proper welding table, it’s a wooden table that has an aluminum sheet on top. From welding on the aluminum, it has become super warped and so some of my work isn’t welding flat. While I save up for more steel to weld myself a new table, I’ve been creating organic sculptures that don’t need to be square/flat.
My future planning consists on having all new steel tables, walls and a roof over my shop so I don’t have to worry about the weather – or having to cover up my future steel tables so they don’t all rust! All in due time – that’s the never-ending life of a starving artist.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m a one-woman business! I weld all my sculptures, bending all pieces by hand without heat. Creating tabletop, floor standing, ceiling hanging, and wall art. Some of my work sits flat against a wall, as others have a 3D effect. I range from abstract to surrealism to realism. Depending on what steel I have access to depends on what I get to create. My main sculptures that I’m known for are called my “Teardrops” – which are a teardrop shape that can hang on a wall or with a chain in a patio. All teardrops are unique, but there are different categories of the different styles shown on the inside which consist of a face, a mountainscape, boobs, and abstracts. I’m also known for my scorpion shapes – which start as a scorpion-like shape and some evolve into spirals and more. I’m most proud of my work being all one-of-a-kinds. All designs are sketched out by me and executed by bending curves to match my sketches. What sets me apart is that not everyone can weld – and it’s mainly a mans field. Not many women are in the welding world and it’s a new age where women are stepping up. Every shop I’ve worked in – I’ve been the only female and everyday have had to prove myself, how I could do everything the men can do. And now I have my own business as a female welder – and I couldn’t be happier!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment so far is of my solo show last May. It was at a gallery called Art Queen in downtown Joshua Tree. The walls of the gallery are all aluminum for they would reflect and become like a funhouse mirror. I embraced this aspect of the space and placed my sculptures in a way that almost felt like an installation. You walk in and can’t tell if the sculpture is right in front of you or a ways back. This show went on for over a month and I received amazing feedback from the town and visitors. Looking forward to showing there again in the future, and until then, I’ll dream about owning my own gallery someday and make the walls have that same effect.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gubbybeck.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @gubbybeck
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