Interview
Adrienne Gabriel
Adrienne Gabriel is a contemporary abstract artist who has lived, worked, exhibited and sold in Los Angeles, Sydney, South Africa and Europe. Adrienne’s multi-layered mixed medium works are unique and invite the viewer to explore deeper into less visually apparent worlds.
I intuitively feel and see beings that take on different forms depending on what surface or medium I am playing with.
When I stop to really look at and feel a space, inevitably I see shapes/beings emerge. Like playing with cloud shapes as they shift, beings present themselves to me through shapes and spaces. Almost as if the spaces or shapes want to play with me so that I create characters out of them, and in this way, they can come alive in this physical earthly realm.
What is your background and how did you start your journey?
“I was born to create, and at a young age, I realized that if I looked close enough, I could see the essence of life in everything. I learned to appreciate the present moment by observing the daily cycle of death and rebirth found in all of nature’s creations. I still observe the world in this way, and find such joy and awe in what I see and feel each day.
In my 20s, I traveled around the USA and ended up working in a large production design company that created sets, scenes and stories for movies, music videos, live shows and permanent large scale installations. After 10 years in LA, and a wealth of multi-faceted experiences in the movie business, I moved to the southernmost tip of Europe in Spain: Tarifa. Then I had another four-year adventure in southern Australia, where nature continued to inspire me to keep creating.
The pandemic broke out while I was in Australia. As I felt the loneliness from the pandemic sweep the world, I wanted to offer those interested the opportunity to discover the deep connection, satisfaction, and joy I felt from creating, and so I created an online program called Play It Out. Based on a lifetime of creative inspiration and appreciation, my studies and practices of Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Yoga and the Chinese 5 element theory, Play It Out invites people to explore 5 different creative mediums, and follow a Qi Gong and Yoga practice that connects them to the 5 elements in nature. At the end of the program, they’ll have created an art gallery of 20 pieces in different mediums, and hopefully reawakened a lost passion for creating.
My family and I have now returned to Spain, where I’ve been painting and selling to a variety of collectors in Sydney, Los Angeles, Belgium, London, Germany and Spain.
I also recently launched a website inviting a few artists to collaborate and produce art for interior designers, which you can see here. I believe that supporting and collaborating with other artists is essential to growth and success all round.
What inspires you most?
“Life inspires me — everything in nature, love, music, art, science, people.
I’m inspired by our constant ability to connect to the universal intelligence that feeds our efforts to reflect the magic we feel and see in something that moves us.
I’m inspired by the body’s ability to heal and thrive, even after near destruction.
I’m inspired by our capacity to touch each other in beautiful and meaningful ways, and that we can learn to tap into our greatest power and create from that space.”
“As artists, the external expression of our inner creative power allows us to share our uniqueness and fosters connection with each other.
More importantly, it allows us to connect to that place deep inside us that yearns to touch and give back to the world in uplifting, joyous, inspiring, and meaningful ways.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“Although my paintings are abstract in nature, there’s an underlying playfulness of 'beings' that emerge from the layers of color, light, and shadow. Though I don’t plan to place these characters in my paintings, they become so evident to me that I feel they are asking to be expressed.
The underlying message of my work is for us to open our eyes and senses to the magic all around us, and to the beings of light that we don’t know or may fear. My wish is that each person may realize that they, too, are artists and can create whatever inspires them.”
How would you describe your work?
“My work is vibrant yet harmonious. It’s thought-provoking, playful, interesting, and continuously evolving.”
Which artists influence you most?
“I think my art is influenced by a number of artists, nature being the top genius. Children's art is amongst my favorite, and yet masters such as Picasso, Michael Angelo, De Vinci and Monet are constant inspiration.
My mother has been creating her whole life in every medium, simply because she loves creating. Her constant ability to create anything, from wildlife to thought-provoking abstracts, has always inspired and impressed me. She is now 86 and still creating fabulous modern artworks.”
What is your creative process like?
“I like to paint very large canvases. If I’m working a commission piece, I start with the colors and the feel of the people or place where my work will hang. I put on loud music, dance, and play with the flow of colors and shapes that evolve. My process is spontaneous, intuitive, playful, experimental and fun.
As soon as I take myself too seriously or start overworking an area, I walk away and change my activity completely. As my canvases are often 2m x 2m, I sometimes paint outside in the garden where I’m one with the elements and creatures that crawl or fly there.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“Artists inspire others to create and to connect with that place inside them that was so alive and vital in childhood.
Beyond this, art should uplift and inspire deep conversations, as well as inner reflection of what the artist is saying to us. It should be about how we interpret the artwork ourselves, rather than being told what to think or feel.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“I was selected to participate in several group exhibitions in Sydney, and also had a solo exhibition of my copper and acid body of work. The Manly council approached me to create an outdoor art experience for one of the busy promenades. I took this opportunity to invite young talented students to collaborate in producing portable murals that highlighted the diversity of nature in the area. The exhibition was then auctioned off to raise money for some of the endangered species represented.
Although I’ve had a solo exhibition in Sydney and been part of several joint exhibitions, my works have been selling to designers and collectors all over the world for many years.
This year, I’m preparing a new body of work for a solo exhibition here in Spain.”
