Celebrity Hairstylist Gains Inspiration From the East

Hair stylist and artist Gabriel Georgiou chose 'Writing with Light' as the name of his photography project, believing that all art forms resonate an energy that the viewer can feel. (Kati Turcu/The Epoch Times)

MELBOURNE, Australia—He may not consider himself to be a polymath in the true sense of the word, but Gabriel Georgiou is, at the very least, in less formal terms, someone whose search for knowledge and wisdom transcends far beyond his field of expertise.

Australian-born of Greek heritage, Georgiou trained and started as a hairdresser in London and later began working as a hairstylist in the fashion and entertainment industry.

He has worked with and has the respect of many celebrities, including the likes of Drew Barrymore, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Cate Blanchett, Chloe Sevigny, Robert Downey Jr., Keanu Reeves, and Joaquin Phoenix, to name just a few.

His work with photographers includes Herb Ritts, David LaChapelle, David Bailey, Mark Salinger, Tony Duran, Marino Parisotto, and many more.

 

Labour of Love

But his latest project is a labour of love on a subject that is close to his heart.

“The project is called Writing With Light, which comes from the Greek word photographia, meaning literally to write with light.

“Because everything is energy, an art form resonates energy. For me, it is important that when I look at an image, I get something from it, I feel something from it,” Georgiou said.

The idea for the photography project came from the need to give back to the practice of Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa), which he has been practicing for the past nine years.

He explains: “I’ve benefited tremendously from the practice in every way and form. For example, I’ve never been ill in the last nine years, not even a cold. I used to have slight scoliosis, and as soon as I sat in the meditation position, I felt my body changing and cracking here and there, and before I knew it, my condition was gone; it completely vanished just through the meditation.”

He also mentions having been plagued by various allergies, as well as insomnia and a generally negative outlook on life, with bouts of depression.

“But that’s all vanished. Now I see everything optimistically. I’m always happy, always smiling; it doesn’t matter how little sleep I have. My energy levels are sky-high. I don’t see hardship the way I used [to]. I just take it very lightly and know that there is always a bigger picture to everything and work through it.”

 

Creativity Heightened

His practice of Falun Gong also fuelled Georgiou’s creativity, and he began to look to the culture of ancient China, specifically the Tang and Qing dynasties, as a way of representing the ideals of the ancient past through his work. By default, his work serves as a sharp contrast to today’s communist regime-ruled China, where human rights and compassion continue to suffer.

“Basically, the idea came when I wanted to do something more important, to give back. The fact that the world doesn’t know much about the persecution of Falun Dafa [practitioners] that’s happening in China, the world needs to know. Art can truly open people’s minds.

“So basically, as an artist, it’s just me raising my voice in a sense, to let the world know,” he said.

The project is in two parts, Heaven and Earth, where one part is a portrayal of Buddhas, Daos, and Gods, paying homage to China’s rich traditional spiritual culture.

“But I also wanted to touch on the fact that spirituality transcends all cultures, and that all cultures have a spiritual connection,” Georgiou said.

“It was important for me to create something where a person from any background, whether it is a housewife, artist, movie director, politician, whoever, from any national background, can come in and feel a sense of beauty and calmness and walk out with a positive feeling. And that’s why I called the project Writing With Light,” he explained.

Collaboration

The project is a collaboration between Georgiou and make-up artist Steve Mena, and it is nonprofit.

All the models in the photographs are Falun Gong practitioners. Among them is one who has been persecuted and tortured in China, while the others are living in free societies. Some have family members in China who have been persecuted.

Georgiou has been showing his Writing With Light project work to his peers and “so far, whoever I’ve shown, they’ve been very impressed,” he said. He is also planning a book and an exhibition of the photographs.

When asked about how he integrates his spiritual practice into his everyday work in an industry that is not particularly known for plunging the spiritual depths, Georgiou said it is simple: “A goal of enlightenment is not only knowing the theory of goodness, but also putting it into practice and not just that, but also continually working on your inner self to become a better person.”

He ends by saying: “I always knew that it is within society that we make our leaps and bounds, that we don’t escape from it. But I didn’t have the right guidance.

“So this is something that I have found now through the practice of Falun Gong. I don’t have to worship something; I don’t have to go to a temple; I don’t have to pay for something, because truth is there for everyone. It’s an energy and a knowledge that you give wholeheartedly to someone or that you pass on. It’s not something that has a monetary value or something with which you can claim a hierarchy.”

And how does this fit in with his milieu of celebrities?

“I find that people feel good energy, and you instantly get along. There is laughter, there is good conversation, there’s honesty, everything’s genuine. Everything is different so there’s no drama, there’s no negativity.

“People are instantly attracted to that,” Gabriel Georgiou concluded.