Gail Gilbert: Coming About

Drawings and paintings featuring a cast of whimsical characters from the creative mind of dancer, choreographer, and actress Gail Gilbert.

Artist Statement:

COMING ABOUT is an exhibition of ink-on-paper drawings as well as painted versions of drawings I have been working on for the past thirty years. Concurrent with my career as a contemporary dancer, choreographer and actress I have been making and exhibiting visual art works. My creative process is informed by and directly mimics my work as a choreographer, by using the same intuition and desire to create dynamic emotional expressions in whimsical unexpected forms.

My visual arts career was born out of the need to channel the creativity that demanded attention during my down time as a professional dancer. With ink and Fabriano paper I began improvising characters as I would a dance, beginning first with a simple movement or line, then working outward without judgment or consequence, until the impulse was complete. Only then would I step back and discover where the line had taken me. Then, on to the next drawing, for hours at a time, playing with form and contrast, finding joy in composition and character.

Like a dance that evolves from an idea for a simple phrase into a composition, my work has expanded from those ink drawings to include color and canvas as well as sculpture. What runs through all of my work is the same thing that drew me to the dance: the dynamic nature of conflicted character, natural forces frozen in oppositional harmony, the constant interplay of stability and escape.

https://gailgilbert.net

On exhibit at Enterprise Library from January 7, 2021 through March 21, 2021