Libertad / Freedom Painting

Peruvian Artist and Muralist Gisella Stapleton combines different materials ranging from recycled fabrics to organic pigments and embroidery threads that allow her to create more sustainable and environmentally friendly works of art. In this process recycled Latin American jute coffee bags are painted, cut and reconstructed in organic abstracts and arcing contour body silhouettes. These works seek to explore themes surrounding elements of nature and land fertility , self care and self love, sorority, relaxation, among others. Gisella includes embroidery in her works as a a tool for female empowerment and peaceful protest, she considers the embroidery as a space of freedom, instrospection, self-knowledge and sisterhood. Since the beginning of her career, Gisella has used a variety of artistic mediums and materials to capture the richness of Latin American folklore, symbolism, and Andean art in her paintings. Elements of popular art were mixed with realism and abstraction to produce the style in which Gisella has shown portraits of empowered women, scenes from nature, and non-figurative works inspired by pre-Columbian designs. The colors and patterns seen in the indigenous cultures of Central and South America and nature itself have been the most natural visual language to express the themes of Gisella's work, from ecofeminism to indigenous identity and nature preservation. Moving from her native Peru to Spain in 2003, Gisella began exhibiting her works at the University of Valladolid, followed by a series of exhibitions at various Cultural Centers in Spain. Shortly after arriving in London in 2011 on a scholarship, Gisella began exhibiting her work in galleries from the Battersea Arts Center in London to the Ronda Barcelona Cultural Center and the HERSTORY Show in San Diego, CA. Gisella has recently been chosen as one of the finalist Latin American artists for the VIA Arts Prize in the UK. She currently collaborates with Latin American Cultural Organizations and NGOs to create artworks and murals that represent the diversity of the community. Gisella is currently based in London.