Gabriel Fernández

Puerto Rican born Nuyorican artist who uses multiple mediums to depict the idyllic landscapes of the physical world or to explore the internal landscapes of the psychological world.

Gabriel is a Puerto Rican born Nuyorican artist who lost his language when he was taken from his family at the age of four after his mother was a victim of domestic violence, and placed in a Catholic home. During his time in the home, there was no such thing as bi-lingual education, and the nuns beat him with a ruler anytime they heard him speaking Spanish. As a result of this trauma, Gabriel withdrew from the chaos. He was rescued from a life of oblivion when he met an art therapist who encouraged him to overcome his isolation by showing him how to use his creativity to express his feelings. Although he identifies as a Puerto Rican, Gabriel realizes that being raised as a gringo and not speaking the language leaves him stranded outside the boundaries of the white and Hispanic cultures, which accounts for the schizophrenic nature of his art; one day he’s painting plein air landscapes, and the next day using construction material to create layered dreamscapes which depict the loss of his identity. As for his philosophy of art, Gabriel states, “my art is as restless and as changing as my moods, and I find the mystery of the psychological landscape as interesting as the beauty and structure of the physical landscape. As someone who has read the works of Jung and Campbell, I understand that both the indoor and the outdoor are two parts of a whole, and as an artist I find it impossible to choose between one over the other. Instead, I take each road where it leads me. So, when I paint indoors, I wander through dreamscapes where the images are both universal and unique. When I paint outdoors, I seek shelter in the sacred spaces where time flows between the branches of the trees. And when I finish my creations, it is my hope that the subtle and not-so-subtle use of symbology, mythology, and iconography help bridge the personal and cultural divide between the viewer and myself.”