Meet Gabriela Amon | Multimedia Artist & Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gabriela Amon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gabriela, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
When I was younger, I moved to the United States from Brazil with my family. I learned to speak English when I was in elementary school, but coming from two different cultures and learning to speak two different languages taught me the power and importance of nonverbal communication. I love art and storytelling because it allows us to relate to each other more deeply without having to use any words at all. I pursued an art career in the hopes of bridging gaps in communication and developing the skills necessary to express myself in a more meaningful way to others.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I made the exciting decision to pursue a creative career in 2018, when I applied and was accepted into Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. I majored in Multimedia Art and graduated in 2022. During my college years, I studied varying creative subjects such as computer graphics, creative programming, color theory, graphic design, film production, photography, figure drawing, and more. Along the way, I worked on set as Art Director for the indie film, Scuba, and worked freelance for a variety of different small businesses and organizations. After graduating, I started my web & graphic design business, Vesper Design in September of 2022, where I continue to work with small businesses, schools, organizations and individuals to help them develop their brand, design their websites, and anything else they might need. I also work with creative photography, video, and collage and look forward to expanding my career into that area.

I think the most challenging part of pursuing a creative career was learning about myself and my style. Creativity comes in so many different forms, and making executive decisions about which path to take can be confusing and overwhelming. Sometimes, art is not one size fits all, and defining an artist by one medium or style can feel limiting. Along the way, I made sure to give myself enough time to explore not only what I’m good at, but also what I loved and what felt natural to me. In my case, I ended up gravitating more towards photo, video, and graphic design.

Finding my style was one of the most difficult challenges, especially because cohesiveness tends to be very important when it comes to channeling art into a career. I was not very patient with myself at first, but over time I learned the importance of picking out my best work, which meant not displaying everything I had, and parting with work I had put a lot of effort into but just wasn’t my best. Another important piece to the puzzle was finding what inspired me. I spent plenty of time putting together Pinterest boards, watching movies, and making lists and vision boards. I learned the names of the cinematographers and directors of the movies I loved, I took artist business cards at art galleries and markets, and I was attentive in my art history classes. This time that I spent learning about and observing other artists gave me the key to finding my style. I learned that I enjoy genres such as conceptual art, fantasy, surrealism, the abstract, psychology, and the “uncanny.” Eventually, after going on this journey of self-discovery and learning to curate my best work, I looked at everything together and saw all the little things that I loved in my own art, and found some of the common visual themes I now know to be my style.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m currently living in San Diego, where there’s plenty to do! I love to go to any of the beaches along the coast and park my car there to paint and catch a sunset. Powerhouse Beach in Del Mar is a great place for a picnic. Balboa Park is great for seeing a museum, walking around the Japanese Friendship garden, or going to the San Diego Zoo. In Little Italy downtown, there are plenty of great restaurants, weekly markets on Saturdays, and Art Walks a few times a year. The Del Mar Fairgrounds always has something fun going on, and the flower fields up in Carlsbad are beautiful in the Spring!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’m lucky to have my parents Adriana and Cristiano who have loved and supported me endlessly throughout my studies and career, and my brothers Miguel and Rafael, who always encourage me and make me laugh. I also want to mention my friends who never hesitate to dedicate their love and time supporting me, modeling for me, helping me pick out my best work, and inspiring me every day, especially Liana, Helena, Deena, Isabella, Louise, Juliana, Dante & Zander, Sam, Henrique, and Kendal. 

Website: gabiamon.com

Instagram: @gabi.amon

LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/gabiamon

Image Credits
Gabi Amon Ryan McConville Miguel Amon Rafael Amon