GABRIELLA D ‘ITALIA

ARTIST STATEMENT:

Gabriella D’Italia’s interdisciplinary work explores home, nature, female identity and the contributions of these environments to our human wisdom and sustenance. I layer imagery, patterns, and media in fiber, two-dimensional work like painting and collage, as well as in video and text. I embrace complex meaning based on the truth of material experience rather than inherited narratives, emotions, expectations, and cultural norms. I emphasize inexact repetition, a material (embodied) experience of time, and a new-feminist conception of storytelling based largely on intimacy with nature and everyday things.

Gabriella grew up in Morristown, NJ. After receiving her BA in Philosophy and the History of Science and Mathematics through the Great Books program at St. John’s College, she moved to Boston and then Maine, where for two decades she immersed herself in costume design, quilting, leadership roles in nationally recognized fine craft organizations, and teaching courses on creativity. She is a Master Gardener. She holds an MFA in Intermedia from the University of Maine, Orono. Her memoir, Getting Dressed In The Dark: An Artist’s Way Home, is an artist's story coming from Unsolicited Press in November 2025. Her visual work has been exhibited at biennials, salons, embassies, and galleries internationally.