Celine Gabrielle

Various works, 2020

ARTIST STATEMENT

I love bright, bright colours, in big hunks and chunks. Details zoomed in on. Light and shadows, folded-in-on itself to present something altogether different but recognizable. Alluring and intriguing. Never boring. Always engaging. Right now that comes out as paintings, on big canvases, close-up slightly abstract and yet incredibly crisp at the same time.

As a child of the 80’s/90’s not only was I influenced by the bold in your face neon colours, big shoulder pads and modern technology take over, I was also greatly influenced by both my baby boomer parents and my grandparents. I’m very inspired by pop culture, fashion, style, design and architecture across many generations as far back as the 1920’s art deco and flapper girls right through to the 2000’s mega stars like Lady Gaga and the haute couture trends of today. As a self taught artist I’m influenced by the well known artists I had access to, many popularized in pop culture like Tamara de Lempicka, Rene Magritte, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso.

My work takes from my obsession with fashion and that the clothes we wear is how we tell the world who we are, or maybe who we aspire to be. Sometimes it speaks our culture and can connect us to a place or time in history. Sometimes it blurs the lines of all that. It always tells a story.

I start with an image or a piece of clothing that inspires me. It has to speak to me. I’m slow. I work in many layers. I start with acrylic to block in main colours and shapes quickly. Then I switch to oils. I take my time carefully studying my references and refining section by section.

I love that my paintings look realistic from far, but up close as I work it’s just abstract colour and shapes—like an illusion.

I create because it’s fun, it challenges me and gives me energy. I’m a champion of colour and exuberance. I want the joy and pleasure I have making my works to go with them. Like coming home to a bouquet of wildflowers on the kitchen table—an unexpected pop, a wow moment on an ordinary day.