Gigia in the Eagleton School Garden
Gigia Kolouch
Creative: artist, gardener, cook
I create art that inspires others to have awe and respect for the world we inhabit and believe that sanity resides in connection to the outside world, especially non human lifeforms. As a young child, I was sensitive to the trees, plants and insects that surrounded me. I lived in a place where nature was outside but also inside, through the plants that we grew, ate, that then became our bodies.
Throughout my life I have strived to integrate the exterior and interior. My passions, including cooking, gardening, photography, drawing and painting attempt to bring in the natural world, respect it and reflect back what I experience. It is this push and pull between reflection and observation that drives me to create.
My goal as an artist is to create an image that causes the viewer to stop, to interrupt life in order to let the outside in. Currently, I am using the encaustic medium because of its vibrant colors, sensory qualities, and translucency. Complementary colors and editing photos with encaustic layers allow me to point to specific details within the natural world which fascinate me. As an enthusiastic amateur naturalist, I invite you to pause and discover our place in the world along with me.Gigia Kolouch was fortunate to have been born in Marin County California where redwoods, live oaks, fog and wild spaces shaped every day life. While gardening along with her mother, aunts and grandparents, she became involved with the seasonal cycle of growing, tending, harvesting, cooking and celebrating food as an expression of place. These early experiences, which included fabric art and painting, would come together and form the basis of her adult art making. She used her childhood experiences to later teach others how to cook from scratch and celebrate tradition.