Gillian is a mixed-race CHamoru woman who was born and raised in Bremerton, WA. Self-taught, she began acrylic painting when she started college as a means of healing and connecting to her cultural identity. Her art centers her stories and perspectives as an Indigenous woman told through traditional legends, motifs, and aesthetics brought into a modern context. Themes that Gillian centers in her art include matriarchy, vulnerability, Indigeneity, and healing. In addition to acrylic painting, Gillian practices traditional artforms of her culture such as weaving with pandanus leaves and jewelry making/carving with clam and spondylus shells. As her art journey progressed, Gillian saw how art could be used to connect with her ancestors and homeland while in the diaspora as well as practice storytelling and relationality with her community. 

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Photo by Favio Guzman-Estrada, 2023.