Gail-Marie Boykewich

I studied painting, sculpture, and fiber arts at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1999–2003. While there, I was drawn to traditional portrait painting, surrealism, and folk art. I’ve shown my work in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Houston, Minneapolis, and Jersey City. Some recent achievements include the Liquitex “Just Imagine” Residency 2023 and Aqua Art Miami as a 14C Showcase artist in 2023.

My artwork is inspired by an intense love for flora and fauna. I want to highlight the beauty of the natural world, the importance of environmental conservation, and the human-animal bond. I want to emphasize how special all living things are and that we may lose many of them due to the destruction of our own environment.

My paintings depict fictitious characters surrounded by plants and animals. I often use bright colors and patterns. I feel it’s important to bring attention to unusual or endangered plants and animals by representing them in artwork. The characters often have a companion animal that can provide protection and represent emotions like serenity, vulnerability, or rage. I like to use symbolism in my paintings to express my emotions or honor life events. I want the viewer to interpret these symbols—things like certain flowers, fruits, or birds—in a way that’s meaningful to them. It’s important to me to maintain a sense of mystery in my work as well.

My process itself—be it painting strands of hair or bandaging my animals with papier-mâché strips—fulfills my desire to show respect and care for my subjects.

I try to celebrate the beauty in the “flaws” of human appearance by highlighting things like stray hairs, birthmarks, and scars. My subjects’ ornate style of dress and dramatic poses are inspired by my fondness for the melodramatic aspects of traditional portrait painting, magic realism, and old Hollywood films. However, unlike the subjects of traditional portrait painting, I think it’s important to represent all different types of people regardless of race, social standing, or financial means.

The combination of these elements in my work creates a world that is beautiful, humorous, and sometimes strange.