Interview with Mixed-Media Artist, Gabriel Pilar Pala

Meet Gabriel Pilar Pala, a Peruvian-American queer artist whose vibrant, mixed-media paintings celebrate the BIPOC community. Born and raised in West Harlem, New York, Gabriel has been captivating audiences with his bold, expressive portraits that blend traditional painting techniques with unique materials like braces and pearls.

This Latinx Heritage Month, we were thrilled to collaborate with Gabriel on a series of original designs. Inspired by his experiences as a Latinx individual living in NYC, Gabriel created artwork that reflects the importance of mental health within the community. His designs highlight resilience, break down stigmas, and offer a powerful representation of the Latinx experience.

In this exclusive interview, we delve into the artist’s creative process, inspirations, and the powerful messages behind his work.

How did you develop your unique style or voice as an artist? Can you describe any pivotal moments or decisions that helped define your artistic identity?

My unique style is a fusion of my background in digital painting and graphic design. The figures I create are a blend of various faces I’ve encountered in life, which result in faces that seem familiar.

The pivotal moment in finding my current artistic identity was working on my project “txt.ture” — a portraiture series focused on highlighting various skin conditions in youth. This project allowed me to experiment with oil paint for the first time and really delve into more rendered portraiture. During this project, I received lots of encouragement and guidance from my former college professors. Their support helped me navigate the space between illustration and fine arts, where I felt caught in the middle. My professors helped me understand that I do not need to have specific labels to exist in the art world. They reassured me that my work is valid in both spaces, and that I can define my own path as an artist. I cannot stress the impact professors can have, especially as an early artist.

How did you approach capturing the essence of fashion within the BIPOC community in your Mélange series, and what message do you hope to convey through these portraits?

I hyperfocused on different fashion aesthetics for Mélange and applied them to each figure. Most of these figures existed in my previous series “txt.ture” (texture), so it was also a matter of expanding that world. Some fashion aesthetics I focused on were street fashion in “She My Mini Me”, chicana 2000s fashion in “Just A Quick Cheq”  and underground gothic and alternative fashion in “Gotico.” I researched different books about fashion and fashion photography, recalled specific details; like bamboo earrings, airbrush tees, and nameplate necklaces, and depicted those details in my work. The message I hope to convey through these portraits is that these individuals who represent various fashion expressions & cultures, mainly started by people of color, deserve to be depicted and honored alongside their white counterparts.

Artistic expression can often be a form of therapy. How has creating art impacted your mental well-being, and do you find that specific themes or projects help you process emotions? 

Creating art has positively impacted my mental well-being by allowing me to process and express my emotions related to my identity as a person of color. My goal as an artist is to depict minorities in positive spaces, and that practice in itself acts as a form of therapy for me. I focus on details such as the glimmering of brown gums when my community smiles, two-toned lips singing words of love, and melanated hands that hold me close. These visuals are what constantly inspire me and drive me to create.

This practice also heals me from the constant media portrayal of the systematic tragedies that people of color face. By creating artwork that highlights the beauty & strengths, I aim to remind my community that we are more than our struggle.
Overall, creating art serves as a therapeutic outlet and allows me to celebrate and process the positive influences in my life.

How do you approach experimentation with new artistic styles or mediums? Can you provide an example of a recent experiment and how it challenged or expanded your artistic capabilities?

I constantly experiment with new materials that I can shape to put onto my paintings. For instance, my current project  “My Digital Diva”, pays tribute to the digital voice & fictional character Hatsune Miku, who is owned by Yahama. The piece is my interpretation of Miku’s design, a woman of color, and acts as a commentary of the relationship between anime fans of color & the lack of respectful representation in said media. To reflect Miku’s original design, inspired by Yahama’s keyboards and synthesizers from the 2000s, I am incorporating pieces of old technology onto the artwork. 

Specifically, I’ve disassembled old speakers and a laptop; using parts like the motherboard and RAM for my painting. I cut these pieces into specific shapes relevant to her design and adhere them to the painting. I feel that depicting specific details via paint strokes is not enough for me; physical objects feel whole and provide more dimensionality to something 2D. This practice pushes me to find a balance between the 2D and 3D elements in my work.

What initially attracted you to the opportunity to collaborate with Brooklyn Cloth? Were there any particular aspects of the brand or its values that resonated with you? 

What initially attracted me to the opportunity to collaborate with Brooklyn Cloth is the personal connection I have with the brand. I have vivid memories of browsing through their clothes when I was growing up, during long shopping trips with my mother to department stores like TJ Maxx. Brooklyn Cloth’s logo and style were familiar to me and held a level of nostalgia as a growing adolescent.

I believe their existence alone as a brand plays a big part in the BIPOC NYC native youth culture. Their ability to offer a “cool” and “fly” style while remaining financially accessible to young people speaks to their understanding of cultural needs. 

I am excited to collaborate with a brand that plays a role in the NYC native scene. Brooklyn Cloth’s commitment to accessibility through modern clothing aligns with my values in terms of art being accessible to all. I hope to provide a sense of familiarity and cultural connection through my artwork on Brooklyn Cloth’s apparel.

What aspects of Latinx culture do you feel most connected to?

I feel most connected to the music and food aspects of Latinx culture. My connection to Latinx music is deeply rooted in my childhood. My mother, a singer from Peru, would rehearse at home; filling the apartment with music. I would often hear songs by Eva Allyon or Afro-Peruvian Creole songs. Her performances at Peruvian restaurants in Queens and upstate New York were a significant part of my upbringing. My mother’s passion for music, combined with my stepfather’s constant play of Latino radio stations like LaMega with Alex Sensation nurtured my appreciation of Latin music. This interest has evolved over time, blending with my modern tastes, such as enjoying Spanish covers of songs by the Japanese digital voice Hatsune Miku.

Food, of course, is another strong link to my Latinx heritage. I remember helping my mother make traditional dishes like Lomo Saltado, where I’d sneak a fry or two before she’d kick me out of the kitchen. At Thanksgiving at my Tia’s house in Queens, my mother would bring over Papa a la huancaina and Coquito while we would all eat pernil together and enjoy flan my cousin brought over from Washington Heights. Food brought us together and reminds me that New York is a melting pot of all cultures, especially Latinos.

How did you incorporate elements of your Latinx heritage into the designs you created for Brooklyn Cloth? What role did cultural influences play in this collaboration?

Incorporating elements of my Latinx heritage was key to creating my designs for Brooklyn Cloth. My personal childhood experiences and cultural background living in an immigrant household strongly influenced the visual details and themes of the collection.

For “Voy” I drew inspiration from growing up in a Latino household. I remember when I was a child, running off to the Dominican supermarket to get last-minute ingredients while my mom was cooking or just simply going shopping with her while she ordered meat from the butcher. I remember always wanting some sort of sweet treat during each trip, either Mamita’s ice cream or a soda. The dog in Voy is a nod to the same type of small white dog that I noticed most of my Hispanic friends had, usually named Coco or Luna. A very loyal dog, usually following around with no leash.

For “Cariño”, I wanted to evoke the warmth and love of a feminine elderly presence, akin to a grandmother. I’ve felt a similar nurturing aura with the women in my family. This design reflects a grandmother’s hands of love and care, with religion on her side, and the feeling of safety. Additionally, Cariño comments on the negative stigma around mental health, as the topic is taboo or dismissed in Latino families. As people of color, we are expected to show resilience but often forget that it is okay to seek healing. Cariño aims to remind the viewer that family can help with healing too, especially in an intergenerational context.

CLICK HERE to shop from our exclusively designed collection in collaboration with Gabriel Pilar Pala - limited stock available.