Gabryel Harrison

Gabryel Harrison was born in Tauranga, New Zealand, in 1959. She works predominately in the medium of oil painting, but her work includes printmaking, texts, video and sculptural objects. Gabryel received her BA with a Concentration in Fine Arts from the University of Ottawa. She later completed postgraduate training as a qualified Art Therapist and worked in the field for four years before leaving to devote her time entirely to making art. Harrison’s study of Buddhism and her practice of meditation inform her artistic practice. She believes it is the artist's responsibility to enlarge awareness, to be part of the conversation that cultivates attention and compassion for the sufferings of the world. In both her studio practice and poetry, Gabryel invites the viewer to slow down and perceive art as an object of contemplation or evidence of wonder. She believes that this simple engagement can be a radical act.