Hello, I’m Gabriela, an artist and maker.
I create pictures, greeting cards, jewellery and decorative objects with images inspired by memory, nostalgia and a love of everything vintage.
My work is often humorous and whimsical, with splashes of vibrant colour and random connections between images.
I love delving into old photograph albums, vintage documents, magazines, books, cards, knitting pattern books and scraps of writing. Second-hand bookshops, junk shops, market stalls, attics and long-forgotten boxes are my treasure trove. I’m an inveterate collector of things that other people discard, and through my work I try to bring them back to life.
My art is not limited to a particular vehicle: I enjoy creating collages and prints as much as making jewellery, decoupaging plates or teaching others how to upcycle furniture. Sometime ago, a friend of mine commented that my work was all about creating a whole environment, and that was even before she saw the wallpaper I made from the pages of an old dictionary!
‘I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious’
Albert Einstein
A little bit about me
I grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but London has been my home for many years now: I arrived at the young age of 17 on a gap year to study English and never left…
Having always felt torn between my creative and my academic sides, when it came to choosing a career I turned to psychology: I really wanted to go to art school but, as so many people, I felt I wasn’t talented enough. I then worked in mental health rehabilitation for several years, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but art was ever present as an unfulfilled dream.
Eventually, I took the plunge and applied to Camberwell College of Arts where I pursued a degree in 3-D Design. Newly graduated, I received commissions from the Guggenheim Museum store, Barneys New York and The London Aquarium. I ran a ceramics studio for twelve years, supplying a number of galleries across the UK and selling internationally. In 2007 I took an MA in studio printmaking from The University of Brighton and since then I have been working in mixed media and collage.
Highlights of the last few years include winning a commission from Southwark Council for a now sadly defunct public art project, having a solo show inspired by family photographs of the Armenian diaspora at the Eduardo Sivori Museum in my native Buenos Aires, and sharing my expertise through books such as ‘House of Cards’, ‘The Pretty Nostalgic Compendium’, and ‘Ephemera: inspiring papers from the past’. I have also had the pleasure of teaching at Heal’s London, Grand Designs Live and The Ideal Home Show among other prestigious venues.