ABOUT

A photo of the artist wearing a respirator, face shield, and chemical resistant coveralls

STATEMENT

I am a multimedia visual artist, with a portfolio including pieces in mixed media, sculpture, and digital video. Recontextualization is important in my practice, so rather than focusing on a single type of media, I allow my concepts to dictate the choice. However, because the subject matter is often tied to environmental concerns, I now use as much post-consumer waste in my physical artwork as possible. Recent works contain materials as varied as sheet metal, plastic household waste, discarded packing material, and shredded paint.

BIO

Gaylia Wagner is a mutlimedia visual artist from the mid-Atlantic region, currently living in Washington, DC. She holds a BFA in Product Design with a minor in Art History from Parsons School of Design, and a BA in English Literature from Virginia Commonwealth University.

She recently completed a series of insectoid puppets for the Expressionist opera Red Flag of the Future, currently in production. In 2022, Gaylia participated in her first two-person exhibition, and her piece Warp + Weft (west window, February 2020) was purchased by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities for its Art Bank Collection.

CV

click here for a printable copy

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2024

Sequence, Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC (jurors: Maleke Glee, Lauren Leving, Roddy Schrock)

2022

Hue, Gallery 44, Frederick, MD

2022

DC Art Now 2022, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ I Street Gallery, Washington, DC

Two-Person Exhibition, Fabricating Order, Howard County Center for the Arts, Ellicott City, MD (with artist Susan Hensel)

Wallmountables 2022, DC Arts Center, Washington, DC

Sculpture NOW 2022, Harmony Hall Arts Center, Fort Washington, MD (juror: Fitsum Shebeshe)

2021

8th Annual Abstract Catalyst, Verum Ultimum Art Gallery, Portland, OR (online, catalogue)

1460 Wallmountables 2021, DC Arts Center, Washington, DC

Tamar Hendel Gallery Juried Exhibition 2021, Tamar Hendel Gallery, Silver Spring, MD (online)

2020

Newly Juried Artists 2020 Group Exhibition, Torpedo Factory Artists @ Mosaic, Fairfax, VA

2019

GoggleWorks 13th Annual Juried Exhibition, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA

Nuance: Craftsmanship, Imagination, and Innovation, Peters Valley School of Craft, Layton, NJ (catalogue)

Lemonade Stand Small Works Juried Exhibit, Lemonade Stand Gallery, Key West, FL

Five Points Small Works, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT

40th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ

2016

46th Annual Labor Day Art Show, Glen Echo Park, Glen Echo, MD

1460 Wallmountables 2016, DC Arts Center, Washington, DC

AWARDS / GRANTS

2019 – 2025

Grantee, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Fellowship Program, Washington, DC

2023

Grantee, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank Program, Washington, DC

2021, 2022

Grantee, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Relief & Recovery Fund, Washington, DC

2021

Semi-finalist, Tamar Hendel Gallery Juried Exhibition 2021, Silver Spring, MD

2020

Grantee, CAH-NEA Cares Act, Washington, DC

COMMISSIONS

2022 – 2024

Commissioned to produce twenty insectoid puppets for the Expressionist puppet opera Red Flag of the Future, Washington, DC (currently in development)

2017

Commissioned to produce 50 pieces of original art by the City of Alexandria Office of the Arts for their Community Supported Art (CSA) subscription box, Alexandria, VA

COLLECTIONS

District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank

Goulston & Storrs, Washington, DC

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Washington Sculptors Group

District of Columbia Arts Center, Washington, DC

EDUCATION

Parsons School of Design, New York, NY, BFA Product Design, Art History minor

Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, BA English Literature