Gabriella D’Italia is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and Master Gardener who believes that our true stories lie at the horizon between spirit and body, vision and the material world.
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 holds an MFA in Intermedia from the University of Maine, Orono. Her memoir, Getting Dressed In The Dark: An Artist’s Way Home is coming Fall 2025, from Unsolicited Press.
Gabriella lives and works between Mt. Tabor, New Jersey and New York City with artist C. W. Crawford, their child Luciano Dove, and their four rescue dogs: Pony, Buster, Petey, and Flash.
Statement:
I’m an interdisciplinary artist, focusing on translating linear time into material experience through various media. I’ve always been drawn to certain characteristics in man-made structures and artifacts, but also in nature: the small, the repetitive, and the homogenous. Whether in paint and ink, textiles, text, or video, I use my observation of those characteristics to transform linear time into the presence of material change. My works are material mantra in both process and effect: transformation through repetition.
Since 2021, I’ve been working on a series of multimedia pieces on canvas and paper called Nature: Up Close. Using collage, stencil, monoprint, and direct painting, I layer organic patterns in various degrees of transparency.
Inspired by an ancestral textile, I created Pink Background For Perimeter (2014), a 4.5′ x 18′ textile work installed around a corner. I worked for two years using hand techniques, pleating and embroidery. The piece cannot be seen all at once because of the relative scale of detail to the overall piece, the nature of pleating to conceal, and its orientation on adjacent walls.
My textile and two-dimensional works are foundational research which I translate into narrative using video and text, like in my memoir: Getting Dressed In The Dark: An Artist’s Journey Home (Unsolicited Press 2025). I layer stories and events in the same way that I use materials, accentuating the small, the repetitive, and the everyday.