Gia Gifford is a painter and metalsmith who works out of her studio in the Casket Arts Building in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District. Gia holds degrees in studio art and art history, and a Master’s Degree in Art Education. She has worked as a teacher in a variety of settings for fifteen years.

Gia’s work primarily explores the power of natural surroundings on the human psyche. Through the use of layered mark-making on canvas, her compositions function as meditative rhythms of memories and moments she experiences daily. Gia’s artistic process is intuitive; she doesn’t work from preliminary sketches or plans, but rather uses the motion and repetition of her painterly process as a form of contemplation. This creative process is one of transformation—of the blank canvas into abstract forms and patterns; of anxiety into calm. Her paintings are both direct visual representations of feelings and abstractions of the mind’s search for clarity. Gia’s layering technique immerses the viewer in the complex shapes and sequences of the painting, producing an experience that is aesthetic, emotional, and therapeutic.