Gabrielle Medina
Phone: (123) 456-7890
Instagram: @iknowgaby
Website: https://www.gabrielledmedina.com/
Bio: Gabrielle Medina is a Mexican American painter. She was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona where she received her Bachelors in art history and studio art at the University of Arizona. She received her Masters of Fine Art from California College of the Arts. She is currently living and working in Oakland, CA
Statement: I paint objects into abject abstracted space, collaged together with found
materials. I take inspiration from Vanitas paintings, semiotics, pop culture and
my own Mexican culture. In my paintings I create connections and associations
by collage. I take found objects like scribbled notes and used lotto scratcher
tickets; I'm drawn to little trinkets that show evidence of life and a connection
to another person. I take inspiration from my hometown, moments of
sentimentality and the women around me. I'm inspired by women that are fully
themselves, that smash together authenticity, camp and "tackiness” to create
moments of self expression and power.
My work explores what is valuable and desirable. A large part of my practice is
imitation. Recreating stickers or decals, using rhinestones, creating my own
tags and graffiti. I enjoy playing with imitation because it is so closely tied to
the concept of value. My work questions what is valuable, a rhinestone, a used
lottery scratcher? When I first moved to The Bay Area I was struck with the
extreme poverty and wealth. In my work I use collage and painting to explore
and critique class structure and inequality. I smash together the ugliness and
the abject with fully rendered and meticulously painted food, objects, trash,
and "jewels".
