Interview
Gabriel Wayenberg
François Gabriel Wayenberg, also known by the artistic aliases Namasthay and Lurch, is a versatile and passionate artist whose creative journey knows no bounds. With a keen eye for photography and a deep appreciation for visual storytelling, Gabriel captures life’s fleeting moments with an exquisite blend of emotion and technique.
As a poet, Gabriel’s words dance gracefully on the pages, touching hearts and minds with profound reflections on the human experience. In the digital realm, Gabriel transforms visions into reality, crafting mesmerizing artworks that bridge the gap between reality and dreams.
With a unique ability to evoke emotions and provoke introspection, his art becomes a powerful medium to connect souls and inspire change, embracing artistic expression as a pathway to understanding,
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I started my journey in quite an unexpected way. I was a snowboard competitor training with my friends in Belgium. We were teachers on an artificial ski slope, and were sponsored by famous surf-wear brands. As a consequence of my friend Axel’s skill level, we were invited to Australia by Quicksilver to compete both in snowboard and surfing. But I wasn’t up to that level as I was only ranked among the top 10 nationally, while Axel was among the top 2. I was desperate, but then Axel told me I was going to be their photographer. That was truly unbelievable as at the time, I hadn’t handled even a Polaroid camera to take a family shot.
After buying a professional Nikon FE-2 camera from a friend, I read and studied the manual on the plane to Australia. Then when we arrived, I took about 900 pictures with the camera. They were almost all bad, but I had a notepad and wrote down each of my settings. At the competition, I published a page for Coca-Cola, and a report of the French snowboarding team in the Australian Snowboarder magazine!
Back in Belgium, my dad forced me to finish my studies in economics, and I became an economist. When I suffered from burnout while working for a famous Japanese trading company, I started hacking their digital camera and soon opened my account on deviantArt under the alias Namasthay.”
What inspires you?
“Movement, extreme sports, dance, music, plastic arts, and poetry are sources of inspiration. I like to draw inspiration from the skies and from above. I’m a fan of AI and of course, use GPT a lot. I’m an author, and speed-writing is my specialty. I’ve published at least 2 books, speed-edited with it, and have more in preparation. I’d like to take some time off my career and produce a full-feature movie.
Love, human feelings, and animal expression inspire me a lot as well. I want my dog to talk and I purchased these buttons to teach her, like the famous poodle from Yale university. Dogs are able to talk about their dreams, who they saw there, and ask why they are a dog. I find that fascinating. The question of their rights as dogs mirrors a lot of our rights as citizens in the new digital world. I also enjoy virtual reality and the metaverse.
I won my first art award from creating a VRML (an early virtual reality modeling language) gallery about Studio Ghibli, when it wasn’t so well-known in the West. I speak fluent Japanese and love computing, and freedom in general.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“I pursue relatively classic and stereotyped themes in the form of freedom, free speech, and free access rights, and offer a fair reporting on daily life. On social media, I often feature my dog and the dogs that live with her. We receive from above the right to create and the right to form new civilizations, but we have to deserve it and have the real merit to create it in a way that is permanent and good for all things. I believe that other civilizations, some which are much more advanced than ours, are there to support us where we might fail. However, these themes are not obvious in my work. They are latent and might reveal themselves in the future.
Then there is some level of Jewish tradition and militancy as well in a way that respects universality and especially Arab interests, good neighborly relations, peace and freedom of speech. My living in Jerusalem for at least 4 years is instrumental in this, and reinforces all of the above.”
How would you describe your work?
“In my artistic world, I find inspiration in every corner of existence. My lens captures emotions and tales painted through photography and video. Words flow from my soul, weaving poetic tapestries that touch the heart. With digital art, I bridge realities and dreams. My creations delve into human experiences, offering profound insights and inviting introspection.”
“This artistic journey is an exploration of life’s essence, as well as a gift to connect and reflect on our shared humanity.
I try to express all this in the most simple and elementary manner, as an eye would witness, as the universe consents; as a partner.”
Which artists influence you most?
“I love the works of Egon Schiele, Van Gogh, my uncle—Flemish painter Felix de Boek, Miyazaki, and Takahata. I admire Rimbaud’s French poetry, and Jim Morisson’s poems in English. I love comics, manga and great drawing, and enjoy the works of Jim Jarmush, David Lynch, and comical people as well. My father, one of the best tailors on this planet, has a hand and advice of gold. I’m also inspired by the painters and poetesses that surround me such as Suzy Cohen, Aurore van Praag, Alexander Mitchell.
In music, Bjork is unfathomable and has influenced me into becoming an arranger. I’ve craved a collaboration with her for a long time. I also enjoy punk rock, classical music, and electronic music in the form of EDM from the golden ages of the nineties. Finally, music by Irresistible Force, Higher Intelligence Agency, and Thievery Corporation—thanks my bro Alex.
Spiritually, I look up to the authors and sages of Kaballah and scriptures, Rachi, Rabbi Nachman, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, all odes to life and progress, who created even in the darkest of times are also a great influence.”
What is your creative process like?
“I draw inspiration from above and it falls like snow. I catch the flakes as they fall slowly in all their puffiness. I film like a cat. I picture like a spider. I write down my thoughts without much thinking. I take time for myself. I set myself aside from the world and its activities. Mine is kind of like an autistic process of sorts. I don’t like to be accessed, except on a stage or a film set. Intimacy is golden.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“I love the movie Contact with Jodie Foster. In one scene, she travels to other time-spaces in the universe and as she witnesses scenes unknown, she states, ‘They should have sent a poet.’
Artists are people who come back from out of our world and who are able to better protect it. It’s naive and purely optimistic, but that’s my thinking as a naturalist.”
