Gabrielle Torre's work seeks to expose the balance between materiality and meaning. Her art aims to decompose compartmentalization, blurring the lines of what we, humanity presume to know. She uses materiality as the foundation, and at times the focus, in a an attempt to engender questions and thoughts from her audience.
Torres was born in Phildelphia, PA and currently resides in Savannah, GA. She completed her MFA in painting from Savannah College of Art and Design and is currently a Professor at SCAD.
Artist Statement:
There is a partiular magnetic pull towards materiality. I tend to hold on to things that others might throw away, creating works from everything from my kid's outgrown clothes to non-decomposing plastic bags. When seeing the fabric, the psychedelic swirls juxtaposed with the furry beige toilet seat cover I threw away last year, the mediums sing, complementing one another. Pile of wine bottles suffocate my studio waiting to be smashed and transformed. Transparent champagne tulle left over from my handmade wedding dress is intertwined with plastic bags in waves of associative impluse When constructing paintings, I overlay fabric swatches, painting in lucid brushstrokes, giving the material a chance to breath.
Quotes:
"Often in life, we are complacent in our thoughts, actions, and upbringing; humanity seldom questions the powers at play beyond the scope of the super-strucuture."
