“I am not the type of person who can follow directions, so I am no good in school. I am a Scorpio,” Gerald confesses. Based on the visual explosion that greets you when you walk into his apartment in the Chelsea Hotel, you not only feel like you are in some kind of a psychedelic church, but you want “directions” from Gerald on his creative process so that you can do the same. It is obvious in the fiery and emotional feeling within his art that encompasses his entire living space that once Gerald starts working on a collage, it becomes obsessive and he can not stop. He surrounds himself with anything and everything he finds inspiring and his life is abundant in inspiration, as a top-tier editorial hairdresser for some of the most interesting and diverse cultural subjects. The subject matter for Gerald’s art is prolific. Influenced by legends Jackson Pollock and Maxfield Parrish, Gerald takes the photos from his fashion shoots, tacks them on the walls and in a passionate free-for-all with paints, enamels and metallic leafing, plays with texture and color, giving birth to highly imaginative abstractions.

Gerald is often into a “bibilical vibe” when it comes to dressing in his Thai fishmerman pants, robes, capes, the occasional hand-me-down Rick Owens and my favorite hand-stitched Quoddy moccasins. True to his guru-like appearance, he has zero self-importance, despite the fact that he has had every opportunity to be filled with it, working with photographers like Bruce Weber and models like Kate Moss. In fact, Gerald says, “I am not into fame and the whole celebrity thing. It is ridiculous and completely not interesting.” What is compelling to him are the endless adjuncts to his enriching life, like “All that Glitters,” a film about a woman who wakes up in a bathtub almost drowning and doesn’t know who she is – Gerald helped produce, acted in and did hair for the project – and being with “like-minded people with no ego who are evolved.”

If you love Gerald, you may also like Natalie Gibson, Justin Giunta and Kristopher Doddona.