Your Work Here George(s) works in monochrome to counteract colorblindness

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Your Work Here was a massive open call to WeTransfer users to submit their artwork on the theme of "black and white." Read more and see the whole list of winners here.

All artists have their own way of looking at the world, but the French image-maker George(s) literally sees things differently. He has a mild form of color blindness so he confuses yellow with green and blue with purple – he laughs that he only recently discovered mustard isn’t green.

The confusion has occasionally caused him some issues. During his first internship for example, he proudly took his designs for a new shoe line to his boss. “I said, ‘Blue and beige; it’s going to be super trendy this summer.’ My supervisor looked at me with this really strange face and asked me if I was kidding. It turned out I made some horrendous combination of purple and pink.”

Since then, George(s) – who uses the bracketed ‘s’ to spell his name both in English and French – has been able to avoid similar incidents, as he mostly works in monochrome. This doesn’t mean his work isn’t varied. Some of his pieces are very precise, sketched and detailed, like a drawing of the mess on his desk (the limbs and faces on each object were added later as a joke).

Others consist merely of some thick rough outlines, like a dog, walking nonchalantly through day and night time. There’s usually a lighthearted, humorous undertone to the artist’s work.

George(s) uses this diversity deliberately. He practices different ways of drawing by doing form experiments. “I’m always a bit insecure about having so many styles. But not long ago I went to David Hockney’s exhibition in London, and was happy to see he had plenty, even though he’s mostly known for one. I guess I’m exploring all the possibilities and will decide at one point which suits me the best.”

George(s) thinks his color blindness even comes with some advantages. One of his latest projects called Boredom, depicts people on ribbed, rugged, and patterned carpets. “I think it’s super interesting to find ways to bring relief in your visuals other than colors. I think patterns have that power in a way.”

“Sometimes people ask me ‘How do you see?’ But I don’t know anything other than this, so I can’t compare. In the end I don’t know if my vision really is a handicap or an advantage. I just know I have my own way of experimenting with my work, surroundings and projects.”

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