Reverence for where the city came from
Artist Timothy Goldkin expresses his reverence for Portland’s history in his large commercial and soon public art works
By Tony Zeli
His brand is Ramble More, and he has done a lot of rambling in his life, but Timothy Goldkin always comes home to Portland. He is known for his commercial art, including large format reproductions of old photographs in Portland businesses like Root Wild, Twelve, Another Round, and Think Tank Coworking. But Goldkin is looking for more opportunities to mount his massive works where the public can experience them.
Goldkin’s most recent installment is a ten foot wide wheat paste for Custom House Wharf. He was applying the final coats of varnish when I met him in his basement studio in Portland’s Arts District.
Goldkin jokes with me that he’s been under every wharf in Portland, and I believe he has. “Portland was actually the first landing pad I ever had. I was born on State Street,” he tells me. Goldkin grew up in rural Franklin County, but he returned to Portland in 2008 and despite a lot of rambling, has called Portland home ever since. But he credits his travels – including hitch hiking and hopping freight trains across the country – with teaching him his art.
“As I traveled, I always gravitated towards the art scenes, but more the punk side of the arts scene.” Through the years he learned different techniques and “how art works in alternative spaces.”
“The more I travel, the more I fall in love with Maine,” says Goldkin. He is clear, it’s not because other places are lacking, but it’s hard to beat the thousands of islands, rocky coast, and accessibility.
Researching History
Goldkin also has a love of Maine history and deep respect for Portland’s heritage and the workers on the waterfront. Many of his works are large, tactile, murals, wheat pastes, and cyanotypes of often historic photographs. He talks of nostalgia, love of the past, and a time before phone screens and ubiquitous plastic.
This love of the past helps drive his research. Goldkin dives into historical societies and digital archives, reviewing tens of thousands of images to find the perfect one.
“There’s millions of these photographs throughout all these archives. To dig through them is like time travel,” says Goldkin.
In the end, if the art is working as Goldkin intends, it “inspires one to kick off their shoes and throw themselves into the ocean and play around on an island… My base desire is to reinspire a grounded-ness and a connection…”
Goldkin is mostly known for his commercial and residential art, but he is looking to get into more public artwork. He hopes the Custom House Wharf mural is just the first such public work for him. Goldkin wants locals and visitors alike to walk away with a viseral sense of history and “a little bit of reverence for where this city comes from.”
Keep in eye out for Timothy Goldkin’s art in public spaces around Portland and the rest of Maine in the years ahead. He’s sure to be doing more rambling, but he’ll always be back. After all, he says, “There’s literally thousands of islands I haven’t been to yet…”
Tony Zeli is publisher and editor. Reach him at thewestendnews@gmail.com. Disclosure: WEN has an office at Think Tank Coworking.
