What is it we talk about when we talk about pop culture? It’s been something that my brother and I have been discussing for a while. Fandom and all those thing are loved; beloved. Nostalgic memorabilia, comic books, playful mementos of all things past. Since starting Cimpoe Gallery, we have immersed ourselves in this world and walked alongside those who too feel the weight of the past. And it’s been a great journey. Truly. Aisles containing callbacks to our childhood. The X-Men and The X-Files. Anthologies of stories that used to creep us out. Or else video games and arcades. 80’s and 90’s retro bursts of neon colours. But nostalgia is a strange thing. It is bittersweet, fleeting and in retrospect, a thing that never was because it never quite existed. We find ourselves moving away from pop culture and I am sure that many of you have noticed this as well. The stones that we used to carve our brand have slowly eroded and been replaced with thicker slabs of marble. Fitness pieces. Illustrations celebrating passion and strength. And then Peter went back to the place where he first started, years ago. When we were still in Ontario and he was attending the Academy of Realist Art, he painted pin ups on the side. He did it for fun. He did it for practice. It’s a different time now. He paints between bouts of extreme pain and discomfort. He pains lying down until the pain is too much but he paints. His mind focuses as best it can on those things that mean something. The future is a complicated thing for us now but the past doesn’t hold the same comfort either. We wonder if it ever did. The things we loved growing up should perhaps stay in the aisles of our mind. Pop culture meant so much to us but I’m not sure we can stay true to it. We want to move on from the past. We want to look forward to a better future. We want original works that we can license out in order to create a proper name for ourselves. And we want tomorrow to be brighter than anything we have experienced so far.
Many of you ask how Peter is doing and I can tell you that he is trying. Every day he tries. Injuries that at first seem like they should be an easy thing to overcome have a way of changing and revealing something more sinister underneath protected layers. There is a lot to unpack. It is a lot to overcome because this is not what was expected. And the body and mind are fragile things, connected by an even more fragile string, and once broken it feels almost impossible to put back together. But I can assure you that Peter gets up every morning and he tries because he will not become a shell of the person he used to be. It will take time. We can take a step forward and then two steps back but it doesn’t mean that there isn’t progress. We cannot allow weakness to betray all that was built. So stay the course alongside us. We aren’t sure what tomorrow will look like but the fight is what matters most. This is a bleep in the history of all that will be accomplished. Continue to reach out with your kind words. It has been a spectacular show of faith and strength. Witchy good will, all around :)
Sidenote: If you have emailed Peter in the last two months, you may have noticed that I am the one replying. Except for doing things that feel comfortable to him, and doing things that make sense for his body and mind, Peter has taken a steps back from Cimpoe Gallery. This has been the case for a long time but I thought I would make it official. I tried to put a positive spin on things in the hopes that we would be in a better place by now but it is complicated. And besides, admin has never been Peter’s strength :)
-Ileanna
Also American Dad. So much American Dad. Laughter is the best medicine. Legs and the Wheelman All. Day. Long