Contemporary Digital Art: A New Look to Racha’s World Through Gaylatrip
One of the most accurate reflections of our world, history, race, culture, and personal life at the present time, is contemporary visual art. In the last decade, many Algerian artists have developed these artistic skills; Racha, who runs the Instagram account GaylaTrip, is one of them. She transports us back in time and to outer space with a cast of characters, many of whom are women. We’ll learn more about the amazing journey that led to her artistic combinations, what inspired her to pursue this special art, and what she discusses visually.
Could you please introduce yourself? Who invented GaylaTrip?
I’m Racha Guergouri. I grew up in Sétif, between three popular neighborhoods; I enjoyed very much playing in their streets. Then I grew up and went to France, where I finished a Master’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience in Normandy, and now I’m finishing a Master’s of Science in Data Analytics and Marketing Management in Lyon. But what I love to do most in between is to sit down and create something out of any material I’m attracted to. Nowadays, I work with oil pastels, embroidery, and seed beads a lot, and of course, digital collages for GaylaTrip.
I created GaylaTrip! In the Algerian dialect, “Gayla” means “naptime,” and since I hated napping when I was a kid, every time I got bored while everybody else was napping, a portal of creativity appeared, space and place through which I got with the flow of my imagination. Rooted into the present moment in the eternal here, now, and then naptime became just a magical trip.
How long have you been doing this? What made you pursue a digital contemporary art approach?
I’ve been doing this since the end of 2020. At first, I was attracted to classical paper collages, and at the same time, I wanted to work with North African vintage pictures, but since I didn’t have any in my reach, I went digital, and now the Adobe Creative Suite is a true friend of mine.
In your paintings, we see a lot of beautiful Algerian women. What do they mean to you?
I grew up surrounded by so many strong, beautiful, and different women; every one of them is part of me as much as I’m part of them. Their stories, their strengths, and their weaknesses were and still are so inspiring to me. I love women; they are truly magical beings.
You intend to combine cultural, historical, traditional, and ethnic aspects with spatial digital art and music, whether in buildings, characters, or places. What role does your cultural background play in your creativity? And do you feel proud to be Algerian?
My cultural background has everything to do with the combination of all the elements I use! All in all, it’s a celebration of my cultural background; it’s what defines me, and I’m joyful to carry it with me always and forever.
I’m very proud to experience life as it is, to begin with, and delighted to be an Algerian. I couldn’t ask for better. Being an Algerian shaped my very being.
And with every experience of love, joy, satisfaction, bliss, and ease, got me rooted even more in the culture I grew up in, and today I’m very happy to be part of it and for it to be part of me.
Music is an interesting component of your art. Could you please explain how you select each song?
Music is something very dear to my heart. I love listening to old bands/songs but also discovering new bands/songs from any space and place. It fills my heart with love, makes me smile, and dance. And to be true, I don’t think that I’m the one choosing the music. I think it’s the music that chooses which piece it goes with. I just allow it to be through me.
You have a magnificent selection of art pieces, those you post on Instagram; they incorporate a variety of unique elements, such as music, mushrooms, space, and so on. Could you tell us how you combine these?
Natural psychedelics such as magical mushrooms have been used by our ancestors for ages. They are a gift of the earth and playing with those vintage pictures by adding colors and psychedelic effects were very compelling to me, especially with music. I also think that living in the north of France, where the weather is darker, made me miss the big blue sky of my hometown and all the colors that go with it, so it’s a kind of color therapy for me.
Do you have an actual job? If you do, how do you manage your time?
I’m working as a master data manager, a job that satisfies me very well! Also, I enjoy very much the people I work with. And to rest, I create; it’s my moment of meditation. It helps me settle down, let my stream of thoughts flow, and be present by allowing the creation of a collage, a pastel painting, or anything else that calls to me.
What are you communicating visually through GaylaTrip?
To quote Huxley, “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite.” So, through playing with music, space, and mushrooms, I’m playing with the perceptions of this physical world we experience with our five senses, which is not all there is, as we may forget.
What are your biggest influences or people you look up to for inspiration?
Alan Watts, Salvador Dali, Jim Morrison, Led Zeppelin
What is the main challenge you confront as a digital visual artist?
Mostly to find time to make collages since I’m working weekly and want to experiment with other materials at the same time. I get bored easily, and yet boredom is what makes me create!
Does social media help in the promotion of your artworks?
I don’t think much about promoting my creations really. What I love most is to create, and it’s true that I’m always delighted when people are touched by my creations. But it has been a good place for me to give an example of creativity as it comes, and sharing my creations is to make them more real.
Is the majority of your audience young? Have you ever introduced your art to the elderly?
The majority of my audience is young, it’s true, but it’s so diverse and interesting. I made so many amazing friends and met so many beautiful people. But there are some old people who lived through the sixties who DM me saying how much they love the psychedelic effects, the colors, and especially the combination of the vintage North African pictures and the music.
Most people, particularly artists, have experienced failure, considering that art consumes most of their energy, time, and money. How do you cope with that? What encourages you to pursue your artistic goals?
I think there’s no such thing as failure, but it’s more a matter of what works best for you. When I started to play with oil pastel, I really didn’t like it. I acknowledged that, but I still wanted to work with it. I thought to myself how great it would be if I found a kind of technique of mine… And I did, and Mushin was born! It’s very satisfying to take a space and a place to create. When you think about it, creation is a process where “thoughts” are transformed into “things”.
And personally, it helps me get aligned with the infinite greatness of being alive and makes me a happier being. To quote Dalí “Every morning when I wake up, I experience an exquisite joy — the joy of being Salvador Dalí — and I ask myself in rapture: What wonderful things is this Salvador Dalí going to accomplish today?”
What do you want to depict with your art?
The goal of GaylaTrip is to give peps to North African vintage pictures, kind of a second colorful psychedelic life, with a piece of music to surprise and delight those who are open to it. And most importantly, to show that there’s nothing as “wasting time while creating”. I acknowledge
The fact is that it takes courage to sit down to create while we don’t know the outcome or the necessity of the creation itself, but if it calls you just go for it. It’s always worth it.
Do you see yourself using this work to create anything real, outside of Instagram? If you already do. Tell us about it.
I already use a lot of other handcrafted materials to create, and I’m always very open to what’s coming next for those hands to work on! From paintings to embroidery, pottery to carpet weaving… I want to try it all.
In terms of art, where do you see yourself in the next decade?
I’m eager and excited about the creations and the materials ahead of me, and I know that I’ll always rendezvous with the most interesting materials at the most perfect timing, with much love.
You can have a look at her paintings by clicking on the link below. https://www.instagram.com/mushiiiiiin/
