GILIANE BADER
ABOUT - MY PROCESS AND JOURNEY
I choose the freedom and challenges of abstract work to convey what I feel.
The fauna and flora, colors, patterns and light qualities I encountered in Africa, the Mediterranean and Tahiti flow throughout my work.
Observation – through photography, pattern and system analysis –
remains a common thread throughout my various occupational pursuits.
I have developed a strong studio practice over the last few years. I work on several paintings at a time, as each of them inform the others, even though they may differ. Before starting a series I decide on a palette I am attracted to at that specific time -- weather, seasons or mood having a possible influence. I work with acrylic paints, graphite, collage, painted papers. As the works evolve, over many layers and much experimentation, a design reveals itself and I start refining colors and details. Even as my composition develops more consciously, it retains the feel of spontaneity and intuitive awareness of the initial moment. This is often the time when I "accidentally" find an element of collage lying around or decide to make a mark with another tool that brings the work together. A work starts without any inkling of outcome; its development is a fascinating journey of self-discovery.
A self-taught artist, who pursued art classes until 16, I chose to explore art without constraints, going with the flow. I received additional art training at the Art Institute of Chicago, and more recently, with contemporary artist Nicholas Wilton. After a forty-year hiatus, and to honor a promise I made to myself, I am back full time as a creative artist since 2018.
Born in the Sahara, starting schooling in Germany, I traveled back to my native country as a civil war emerged. Back to France a few years later, along with many refugees, I welcomed my family’s relocation to Tahiti a year later. This was a time of healing and powerful reconnection with nature. Growing up, I developed a visceral bond to the lands surrounding me – crabbing in the Mediterranean, watching tropical fish fluttering around corals in the Tahitian lagoon, swimming in the Congo River, exploring a copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
After traveling on my own to Africa, Turkey, Egypt, and the West French Indies, I settled in Boston, Massachusetts, between the Charles River and the Atlantic Ocean.
Buying original art is a special experience, and I do look forward to talking with you and answering any questions about the piece you are interested in.
RECENT EXHIBITS
Mary Schein Fall Salon, Kathryn Schultz Gallery - September 15 - October14, 2022
From Dark to Light, Brickbottom Artists Gallery. - July 14 - August 20, 2022
Emerging Artists Exhibit, Speedway Gallery, juried show. - July 7 - July 30, 2022
Small Works, Speedway Gallery - June 2 – 26, 2022
Members Prize Show, Kathryn Schultz Gallery, juried show March 29 - April 16, 2022
Strategies of Resplendence, Kathryn Schultz Gallery, juried show (online) - January 6 - February 5, 2022
Fort Point Small Works Sale, Assemblage Gallery - December 2 2021 - January 7, 2022
BLUE, Kathryn Schultz Gallery, juried show - November 9 - 27 2021
Members Directory Show Brickbottom Artists Gallery - October 28 - November 21, 2021
Mary Schein Fall Salon, Kathryn Schultz Gallery - August 8 - August 28, 2021
Cool, Juried show at Broomfield Gallery in Boston SOWA - August 4 - August 22, 2021
Small Works Exhibit, Cambridge Arts Association - July 14 - August 29, 2021
Juried Members Prize Show, Kathryn Schultz Gallery - March 2 - March18, 2021
Bodies - Kathryn Schultz Gallery, juried show (online) - January 19 - March 19 ,2021
MEMBERSHIPS
Art2Life Academy
Connected Artists Club
Brickbottom Artists Association
Cambridge Art Association