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STATEMENTI am interested in documenting specific moments in time captured through drawings and paintings of individuals with whom I share a great deal of emotional baggage. I am motivated by moments of quiet, contemplative neurosis during the process of filtering these images through the lens of my own personal human experience and archive of memory. I most often depict people such as my father, wife, best friend, or ex-lover in a peculiar pose of intimidation. This serves as a means to which I attempt to deconstruct the nature of relationships and corresponding feelings of inadequacy. The titles attributed to the works are the culmination of diligent note-taking and documentation of memories (real and imagined) that I share with the subject. They are designed and chosen to encourage the viewer to question, evaluate, and contemplate the nature of their own relationships. Each title serves as a window to the ongoing internal monologue that drives the creation of each piece and investigates certain aspects of my dynamic and flawed relationships with each model—both during and after the creative process. Often, these pieces deal with my connections with people in a very self-involved way, allowing me the opportunity to expose more vulnerable characteristics in a manner that might not be as socially acceptable in another context. |
BIOGabriel Mejia was born in the Chicago area and began incorporating art into his daily life at a very early age with his fascination of the visual storytelling ability of comic books and graphic novels. He received his undergraduate degree from Northern Illinois University, and shortly after relocated to Orange County, California. There, he taught high school, while participating in the Southern California art scene through various group and solo exhibitions in the Los Angeles area. In 2004, he returned home to Chicago where he continues to work within a vibrant artists’ community and looks for inspiration in “crowded chaos and the moments of respite within.”
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AWARDSBest
Emerging Artist, Reader's Choice, Chicago Reader, 2008 |
PUBLICATIONSCS
Design, October 2007 |
EDUCATION B.S. Art Education, 1998 |
