ABOUT
BIO
Gaylia Wagner is a visual artist from the mid-Atlantic region, currently living in Washington, DC. Her portfolio includes pieces in mixed media, sculpture, digital video, and street art.
Gaylia is the recipient of numerous awards, including DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) Fellowship Program grants, and she has exhibited throughout the United States at locations including Touchstone Gallery in Washington, DC, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading, PA, Peters Valley School of Craft in Layton, NJ, and Monmouth Museum in Lincroft, NJ. Her work is in the permanent collection of private and public institutions, including the DCCAH Art Bank and the law firm of Goulston & Storrs. Commissions include a series of insectoid puppets for the Expressionist opera film Red Flag of the Future, currently in post-production.
Gaylia holds a BFA in Product Design with a minor in Art History from Parsons School of Design in New York City, and a BA in English Literature from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.
STATEMENT
Rather than focusing on a specific medium, I allow my concepts to dictate the choice. In my physical artwork I use as much post-consumer waste – such as surplus, second-hand, or salvaged materials, recyclables, and household refuse – as possible, deliberately restricting my purchases of new material. This allows me to address environmental concerns, increasingly the undercurrent of everything I create, even when they’re not the main subject. Recent works contain items as varied as sheet metal, plastic deli containers, disassembled computer cables, discarded packing foam, cardboard, and shredded paint.
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SELECTED EXHIBITIONS |
| 2025 |
Telephone – an international game of intersemiotic translation for artists (online, forthcoming) |
| 2024 |
Iteration Reiteration, Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC (jurors: Roya Amirsoleymani, Addoley Dzegede, Christopher Kardambikis) |
| 2023 |
Hue, Gallery 44, Frederick, MD Sequence, Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC (jurors: Maleke Glee, Lauren Leving, Roddy Schrock) |
| 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 |
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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 |
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COMMISSIONS |
| 2022 – 2024 |
Commissioned to produce twenty insectoid puppets for the Expressionist puppet opera Red Flag of the Future, Washington, DC (currently post-production) |
| 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 |
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COLLECTIONS |
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District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank |
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Goulston & Storrs, Washington, DC |
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PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS |
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Washington Sculptors Group |
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District of Columbia Arts Center, Washington, DC |
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EDUCATION |
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Parsons School of Design, New York, NY, BFA Product Design, Art History minor |
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Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, BA English Literature |