Stephanie Gonzalez - Contemporary, Abstract Painter

Stephanie Gonzalez

Stephanie Gonzalez's geometric landscape paintings are created as a means to explore the subconscious. The influence of her artwork comes from the metaphysical, quantum, and spiritual realms. Using isolation and self-reflection, Gonzalez is inspired through meditation. Methodical and controlled, she first paints the background using acrylic and blending techniques. Intricate geometric drawings are then projected and painted onto her surfaces with iridescent painting that requires light to reveal its form to the viewer. Viewers see a solid landscape in Gonzalez's paintings. There is ground and sky, but everything is really energy; energy the human eye cannot see. Objects are made of tiny molecules that are made-up of even tinier atoms. Gonzalez's artwork suggests this. It implies that there is more than just landscape around us. There's a spiritual dimension composed of complex shapes and patterns. There is always more that meets the eye.

Born in Monterrey N.L. Mexico, Gonzalez grew up with her grandparents in Reynosa, Mexico and picked up painting from her grandfather. She began painting at the age of 14 to escape a hostile environment and later started developing new techniques and experimenting with different mediums. As a child, Gonzalez moved from Georgia to Mexico, then to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. In high school, she experienced constant bullying and judgment for her sexuality, and at home, she faced an unaccepting family. She became severely depressed, and and at her lowest point, attempted suicide. The dark colors, aggressive mark-making, and distressed materials she uses in her artwork indirectly reflect this pain. “Even though my upbringing wasn’t the easiest, it really shaped the way I create.” Gonzalez is constantly creating art to draw attention to societal issues, stir powerful emotions within her audience, and express herself as a proud lesbian and Mexican woman. Her creations reflect domestic abuse, the mistreatment of women and people of color, queer struggles, and other causes she holds dear to her heart. “Art has basically been a savior for me in so many ways,” Gonzalez says. “I want to be that voice for someone who might not have one.”

Gonzalez creates mixed media abstract paintings, graphic design, murals, and interior design. She has been known to use a variety of media, such as coffee, wine, aerosol paint, watercolors, acrylics, oil pastels, and china ink. Gonzalez holds a BFA in Interior Design from the Art Institute of Houston and MFA in Painting from Houston Baptist University. She has received awards from the Glassell School of Art, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, and Rising Eyes of Texas. Public murals and collections include Starwood Hotels Le Méridien Saigon, Lot 8, Chloe Dao Boutique, Skyline Art Services, Make a Wish Foundation, and Pearl Bar. Recent artwork was on view in the exhibition, Withstand: Latinx Art in Times of Conflict, at the Holocaust Museum Houston.