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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Library books, Crayons, and PowerPoint.

Currently I am working on a new performance/future installation piece titled The Great Lakes Wild Man! A lot of my ideas start off as "Huh, that's interesting. _______ reminds me of _______" and away my mind goes. This current project started off as "Huh, that's interesting. Hunting for Bigfoot reminds me of Gay Cruising Habits," and away my mind went. Recently I have been watching a good deal of paranormal and cryptozoological investigation shows while working out at the gym and I started to notice how similar this search was to the practice of cruising.

A little bit of background and definitions before I go forward.

Cryptids is an umbrella term for creatures like the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, Chupacabra, and yetis.

Cruising is the practice of walking or driving about an area looking for anonymous sex. Individuals will wander about areas "looking" to meet someone.

I decided I wanted to create a performance around the search for a Bigfoot like creature called the Great Lakes Wild Man as a way of talking about cruising habits and my own personal experiences.

This is how this project is taking shape:

Library books

A lot of my projects start here. I am a librarian and I love to research a wide range of topics. I use these resources to get new ideas to expand the project, find other parallels to build on the initial idea. Much like an actor researching for a role, when I do a performance piece I love to immerse myself in these ideas as I develop my own persona.

Crayons

I really enjoy using crayons to sketch out my ideas. This was not always the case. A few years ago I was unemployed and frustrated with my art practice. I had always loved comics and graphic novels so I decided to try to make my own. It was rough at first. I have always been very critical of my ability to draw and was frustrated with how clumsy my figures were. I tried a lot of different mediums before finding that crayons really suited my approach to mark making. I am really happy with my progress and I hope I can continue to improve my skills.

Power Point

Now I am developing how I am structuring this performance. I chose Power Point because of my familiarity with the medium when presenting research. This performance is without a script and this format really helps me organize my ideas and develop the flow for the work.