Water Color

“Reconciliation is Dead” / Gabriella Presnal  / Watercolor painting / 27.9 x 38.1 cm / June 2020

"Mask On" / Gabriella Presnal  / Watercolor painting / 27.9 x 38.1 cm / May 2020

"Under Quarantine" / Gabriella Presnal  / Watercolor painting / 27.9 x 38.1 cm / May 2020

Acrylic on Canvas

New Delhi Pride / Gabriella Presnal / Acrylic Painting / 2019

I was inspired by New Delhi Pride in India as they have recently struck down a colonial-era law that banned gay sex. I think I was inspired by this event as it illustrated that a lot of countries originally were not homophobic or transphobic societies, but once they were colonized, homophobia and transphobia were a form of cultural hegemony from colonizers. I was especially inspired by this one photograph of this man because he genuinely seemed happy. I just found his smile to be extremely heartwarming - especially with the hearts on his cheeks! - and I wanted other people to feel like this too.

Vigil / Gabriella Presnal / Acrylic Painting / 2018

With this piece I wanted to emphasize the Black trans women in our community and how they have been affected. The background is black unlike any of the other portraits, this hopefully builds more contrast between the other pieces in the exhibition and draws attention to this piece. I.e. Why is this one different from the others? I wanted to emphasize that in Western society it is Black trans women who are affected the most because of the intersection of their identities, for example, within the United States the average life expectancy for a trans woman of color is between 30-35 years old compared to 78 years old for the national average.