Close to Home Artel Gallery, Pensacola FL ~ Solo Exhibition ~ July 15 - August 22, 2025 Artworks by Gila Rayberg

I embraced the unexpected stillness during the Covid lockdown as an opportunity to dive into new materials and creative processes. I began crafting my own handmade tesserae and experimenting with the fiery transformation of discarded glass into shimmering threads. As I combined these elements with moss, bark, and lichen gathered on my daily walks, the work evolved into a vibrant series of abstract mosaics—steeped in memory, transformation, and material exploration.

Portraiture remains close to my heart. This exhibition includes both new and familiar faces from my ongoing figurative series—portraits that welcome, question, and invite connection.

The featured portrait in this exhibit is of my mother, Mickey, who always encouraged my creativity. Sadly, Mickey passed away at the young age of 54, when I was in my twenties. The portrait is filled with symbolism: malformed breasts represent the evil of cancer (though Mickey died of ovarian cancer), the heart in hand reflects her openheartedness and unconditional acceptance of people, and a single eye symbolizes her ever-present camera, representing the insight, joie de vivre, and intuition she passed on to me.

Apparently I have a lot to say to myself. 😄

Each self portrait captures a different mood, question, or moment in time. Looking at them together, it’s clear they’re less about what I look like and more about what was on my mind when I made them.

As I prepared to launch my new website, I’ve revisited these pieces and the stories behind them. It’s been a wonderful reminder that creating art isn’t about having answers. Sometimes it’s just about paying attention to the questions.  

Works that are neither rectangular nor circular, rather cut-out around the subject.

Julia Kay's Portrait Party (JKPP) is an international community of artists who create portraits of one another, celebrating creativity, connection, and artistic exchange. My ongoing collection currently features 75 mixed-material mosaic portraits of fellow JKPP artists from around the world, and continues to grow. Created with reclaimed ceramics, glass, and other hard materials, each portrait celebrates the individuality of the artist while transforming a digital exchange into a tactile work of art.