MARIEL GONZALEZ

(she/her or they/them)

Mariel Gonzalez is a mixed media artist with a love for acrylic painting and drawing. Born in Toronto to Filipino parents, Mariel studies at the University of Toronto with a major in English, and minors in Food Studies and Studio Arts. She participated in the ACM Student Art Exhibition in March 2020.

Influenced by her studies, Mariel enjoys exploring the fluidity and vibrancy of paint, experimenting with different art styles such as abstract expressionism, impressionism, and fauvism in order to convey her ideas in whimsical, heartfelt ways. Recently, she has developed an interest in collaging and the use of unconventional materials in her paintings. She hopes to continue her experimentations with style and her personal reflections in order to broaden her horizons and further her art practices in the future.

To contact Mariel: marielscgonzalez@outlook.com

Visit Mariel's Linkedin

Visit Mariel's Instagram

Mariel Gonzalez: Artists

Me, Myself and I

Dimensions: 8 x 10” and 18 x 14” canvases mounted on 24 x 30” canvas
Medium: Acrylic paint
Date of Completion: October 15, 2020
“Me, Myself, and I” portrays the uncertain, yet inevitable progression from childhood to teenhood to adulthood, and how the world around us manifests in particular ways during and after each stage. This concept was heavily influenced by Russian matryoshka dolls, which symbolize constant change and rebirth and use colourful patterns. The layered canvases explore life not as each stage encapsulating one another and hiding the past self like matryoshka dolls do, but rather, as the self growing within plain sight. The vibrant colours and patterns in the background symbolize the optimistic notion that there is goodness and happiness in the world, despite the artist’s own inner darknesses and heavy emotions, as symbolized by the tones of blue that get darker as the artist grows up.

Information Overload

Dimensions:Two 18 x 24” canvases
Medium: Acrylic paint, mixed media (paper newspaper, receipts, disposable masks, disposable rubber gloves, tea pouches, fabric softener)
Date of Completion: November 29, 2020
“Information Overload” is a mixed media diptych painting that depicts the invasion of information and everyday paraphernalia within the bedroom, a place meant to be associated with peace and calmness, but has been disturbed by the influx of information caused by the COVID-19 crisis, and overexposure to news outlets, social media, and other repetitive daily tasks. This influx creates a chaos that threatens to throw the peace of the bedroom, a space meant for peace, rest and intimacy, out of balance. This imbalance is represented by the juxtaposition of painted cool colours in blended forms inspired by fauvism techniques, with harsh, chaotic collage work layered on top. Since both the physical clutters that turn our places of peace into overloaded storage compartments and the mental clutters that turn our clear minds into chaotic jumbles of thoughts are too often shamed and seen as problematic, this project speaks to the ongoing struggle of balancing the calm and the chaos, the private and the public, the individual and the world.