"Humor, aesthetics, and imagination are unique to the human experience (dog's don't laugh). So take advantage of it, next lifetime you might be a dog!"
Why - Artist Statement
How about WHY We do this? I always say "We" because creating my art is a family experience. My sons, my daughters and my wife Michelle are all creatives. We live and work together creating what we call the aesthetic experience. We hope our pieces will take you to that place where you can touch the aesthetic. It is that moment in a movie a song a ballet an art piece that just hits you and opens the door to what I can only call Home. It is an emotional level beyond the physical, it is touching the aesthetic... that is the only way I can describe it. Once you make that happen as and artist, you are hooked for life. It is truly WHY we do what we do. Of course this is not easy... what fun would it be if it was easy? We do it because we love it... and in fact we know no other way. The fact that we can make a piece of art, a dance, a piece of music, a movie or anything that can touch that emotion in other people is it. Aesthetics and humor are unique to the human experience we work with that medium daily to bring people up... It is WHY We do this.
Roark Gourley – Artist Biography (Rewritten, 2025 Edition)
Roark Gourley is a multi-dimensional American artist based in Laguna Beach, California, known for his brilliantly absurd sculptures, bold wall pieces, and fearless dive into the intersection of art and technology. He doesn’t just make art—he builds worlds, whether in steel, resin, pixels, or virtual space.
Roark was born in Lynwood, California, in 1949, and it wasn’t long before he started turning the family backyard into a makeshift sculpture garden. By the time he was “air-conducting” Leonard Bernstein symphonies as a kid and crawling inside an old TV cabinet pretending it was YouTube before YouTube existed (true story), his creative trajectory was sealed.
He studied art at Orange Coast College, the University of Colorado (dabbling in optics, physics, and photography along the way), and the Laguna College of Art and Design. Since the 1970s, Laguna Beach has been his home base—where he’s launched studios, galleries, family collaborations, and a full-blown creative ecosystem.
Roark made a name for himself with 2.5-dimensional wall sculptures that walk a fine line between surreal and hilarious. Think coffee cups, martinis, and corporate executives with too many arms. His work for Warner Bros. in the ’80s (including Daffy Executive and Golfer Taz) became collector favorites. But his practice never sat still.
In 1991, the Smithsonian commissioned Spaghetti Meets Tomato, a mixed-media map of the world made from topographic food—yes, that happened. Then came Foark in the Road, a series of giant, guerrilla-style fork sculptures dropped into public spaces across North America. Other standouts include the towering women’s heels at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas (Steam Pump and Tie One On), a massive surfboard sculpture for Redondo Beach, and a permanent 150-foot video projection (Liquid Light) glowing on the side of the InterContinental Hotel in San Diego.
But here’s the twist: Roark doesn’t just live in the physical world. Since 2012, he’s been one of the very first artists to fully embrace augmented reality, creating an AR art show before most people even knew what AR was. He now designs in virtual reality using MetaQuest, sculpts ideas in digital space, and brings them to life with physical fabrication—effectively creating a full-circle workflow where physical becomes digital, then digital becomes real again. It’s a bleeding-edge, head-spinning fusion of old-school hands-on craft and futuristic tech wizardry.
He’s also produced Liquescent, an underwater experimental film about water as essence, spirit, and aesthetic—shot off Catalina Island and backed by the Seven-Degrees of Inspiration Grant. It's weird. It’s beautiful. It's pure Gourley.
In between all this, Roark runs a full-fledged family art syndicate with his wife Michelle and their four creatively-wired kids. They call it “the aesthetic experience.” It's about using art and humor to reach something beyond words—something we recognize when we laugh, cry, or get chills from a great movie or painting. “It’s touching the aesthetic,” he says. “That’s the goal. That’s why we do this.”
And yes, he jokes that he only does all this fine art stuff so he can one day fulfill his true dream: becoming a waiter.