DELHI - Gia Sabatini wields her art-making materials like a storyteller, creating vibrant narratives that blend textures, colors, and emotions.
Her artistic journey began with a detour. Originally pursuing art education, life led her to graphic design and tattooing. “I thought being an art teacher would be an amazing career. But life happened and I ended up putting that on hold,” she said. She began a family and found her way back to graphic design.
The tragic loss of her sister in 2017 became the catalyst for her entry into the fine art world. In grief, she found solace in painting, when she inherited her late sister’s art supplies. In her grief, she said, she started a large painting “that kept appearing in my head.” Initially, she said, grief and loss spurred her creativity, though she has always created art, in one form or another. She is also a lover of typography and lettering.
Her professional career encompasses exhibitions in New York City and internationally - in Spain, Brussels, Paris, and London. During the Covid pandemic, after applying to show in different venues, she was contacted by Agora Gallery in Chelsea (New York City) for representation and has been working with them for four years.
Sabatini is a self-identified mixed media abstract artist. She incorporates modeling paste, watercolors, acrylics, and unconventional materials like coffee grounds and recycled tire shreds in her projects/pieces. “I love the way you can exploit different mediums and have them work or clash with each other,” Sabatini said.
Her multidisciplinary approach blurs boundaries, allowing her to explore endless possibilities in crafting unique visual narratives with a subtext of nature and landscape.
Music, she said, is her companion in creation, sparking ideas that flow organically onto canvas or paper.
Her favorite materials to work with include modeling paste and watercolor sticks, leveraging their versatility to create depth and movement in her pieces.
Beyond traditional paintings and abstracts, Sabatini’s versatility shines through in projects like the commemorative design on a basketball she created for a Walton Central School senior on the girls varsity basketball team as a gift, showcasing her typography background and design skills. Challenges like working on a curved surface with a bumpy texture fuel her creativity, she said of the project.
Though she is currently creating abstract art, she said, she wants to branch into figurative abstract. “I love the human form and have been working through some ideas using textures and human shape,” she said.
“I really want to create and explore emotion in my art,” Sabatini said of her process. “I am always trying to create pieces that are abstract but as the viewer you almost feel like you can dive into them.”
She is an artist, she said, that truly loves art. “I enjoy seeing people create and immerse themselves in all forms of art. I want people to see the world like I do – the shapes and colors that are so vibrant and prevalent in our world. Even in the winter - which is not my favorite - there is a quiet beauty in our environment that I think can be lost or missed.”
She uses painting to reflect what she sees and feels at any given moment, in the rawest form, she said.
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One of the most notable trends she’s observed in recent years, she said, is the increasing prevalence of digital art. With advancements in technology, artists are now able to create stunning and intricate pieces using digital tools and software, Sabatini explained. “Digital art offers a multitude of possibilities, allowing artists to experiment with various techniques and styles effortlessly.” The emergence of AI (artificial intelligence) is a debate in the art world, she revealed. “While my graphic design background welcomes it my fine arts background can cringe at times.”
She anticipates a trend toward politically inspired art in 2024 as the country heads into the presidential election year. “I would expect some more politically driven or protest works,” she said.
Sabatini is gearing up for an exhibition Agora Gallery in New York City in March, after recently exhibiting in Red Dot Miami with Artifact Gallery. Locally, a few of her pieces are available at Good Cheap Foods in Delhi.
For more information about Sabatini and her art visit giasabatini.com
