Raiz (Root) Collage

The vibrant colours in the woven crafts of Andean women and her mother’s paintings are only two of the many childhood visuals that helped create the vivid style of art Gisella Stapleton is known for. Born in Lima, Peru, Gisella uses a range of material (oils, acrylics, gouache, recycled jute, linen, etc.) to bring the richness of Latin American folklore, symbology, and Andean art to the world in a method that fuses tradition with modernity. Elements of Modernism and Latin American Popular Art blend with realism and abstraction to yield the style that Gisella displays scenes of women in everyday life, nature, and indigenous folkloric figures with. Moving from her native Peru to Spain for university, Gisella began exhibiting her work starting at the University of Valladolid, followed by a series of exhibitions in several cultural centres. After moving to London in 2011, Gisella began exhibiting her work widely across galleries, from the Battersea Arts Centre in London to the Ronda Cultural Centre in Barcelona and HERSTORY Performance Show in San Diego, CA. The importance of honouring her roots, culture, memories and traditions as an immigrant is a core theme in Gisella’s artwork. Recently chosen as one of the Latin American artists for the VIA Arts Prize exhibition in the U.K., Gisella Stapleton has rapidly become a figure in London’s Latin American community. Often collaborating with non-profits and cultural organizations, the empowering themes in Gisella’s work have come off the canvas and into the walls, where she’s created murals like her recent works, Latin America Blooms and A mural for Diversity painted in Southwark, London. Gisella Stapleton now lives and creates from her studio in Surrey, England.