Artist Biography

Gabi Madrid (Muscogee Creek Nation of Oklahoma, based in Atlanta, GA) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work reflects upon the human experience, focusing on themes of self-development, identity formation, and the unconscious. Moving between installation and sculpture, Madrid invites the viewers to delve into the connections that bind us as individuals and as a society.

Madrid received their BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2019 and are an MFA candidate at Georgia State University.  They started in a blacksmith shop, where they learned to manipulate metal, followed by cabinetry, leading them to build sets for film. After leaving film, Madrid began working on their own projects and a teaching career. An internationally recognized artist, Madrid has been awarded the Get Ready grant by the Craft Emergency Relief Fund and the mini grant Money-to-Burn grant by Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths. They were selected for The Creatives Project Artist-In-Residence program in 2023-2025 and Paint Love’s artist cohort 2023-2024. They continue to aid communities by serving on the board for the Atlanta Green Artist Alliance.  

Artist Statement

     In my practice I explore the tapestry of human experience, focusing on themes of self-development, identity formation, and the collective unconscious. I create books, prints, sculptures and installations that draw inspiration from mythology and mysticism. At its root, my work utilizes narrative world building to tell stories that relate to our humanity.

In earlier works, I use map imagery to serve as a guide for navigating the internal landscape. More recently maps have served as a blueprint for a world filled with mystical landmarks and chimeric creatures. These mythic monsters are connected to the sphinx, phoenix, and dragons of the East and West, as they are symbols for transformation and growth. I interweave indigenous folklore with my personal experiences to tell stories about monsters, both of the physical and internal world, whether the hands of a siren or a two-faced serpent.

In this myth-making process, I engage with aspects of the dream space imagination, and new possibilities. Through these visual metaphors and allegorical tales I seek to understand how these myths and legends have shaped us as individuals and what they reveal about humans as a collective.