GABRIELLE POOL Sydney-based artist Gabrielle Pool was born in 1976 in Kaharoa, New Zealand. Since 1993, her paintings and mixed media works have been exhibited in solo and group shows in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China, the U.S., the U.K., Greece and the Bahamas. Partly schooled in Japan, Pool's early inspiration from her teacher, Mori Sensei and her tuition in Shodo by artist Nameki, have led to a powerful oriental influence, and an ease of drawing technique akin to calligraphic brushstroke. Largely self-taught, Pool moved to Australia in 1997. In 2004 Pool experienced life with the Hamer Tribe in Ethiopia and the Massai in Kenya. She was presented with sacred body paint pigments and began to incorporate these into her work. She regards this first African experience as a defining moment in her artistic practice. In a strictly personal manner, she then began to record the world's vanishing tribes. This includes her time spent on Aboriginal out-stations in the Western Desert region of central Australia. She was invited by Nelson Mandela to travel to Africa to collaborate in the Unity Series alongside 20 other leading international artists. The works depicted the five phases of Mandela's life, culminating in his vision for the future, launched at the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland in 2005. Since 2006 Pool has collaborated closely with charity organisations, donating bodies of her work to raise awareness of the plight of children in Africa. A visit to the slums of Kibera initiated her ongoing work with Oasis Africa to help the child victims of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as well as her work in African schools, teaching orphans how to paint. In 2007, she was the subject of an hour-long TVNZ documentary about her career as an artist, while National Geographic Australia posted a feature article about her changing views as an explorer. Two journeys to central Australia in September and October 2010 led to her working alongside the Indigenous woman artists of Utopia in the Northern Territory. Some of the resulting paintings and drawings were shown in Sydney at Brenda Colahan Fine Art and the Francis Keevil Gallery. Meanwhile, Pool's quirky canvas Dirty Little Pervert was selected as a finalist in the prestigious 2011 Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney (through June 26). Gabrielle Pool is currently based in her studio in Woolloomoolo, Sydney, with solo shows planned later this year in London, Los Angeles and Sydney. |
