“All my stress, all my feelings, I put it in my work,” freshman Ana Gabriela “Gaby” Perez says. “It can be difficult to express yourself, so my way to do that is through art, like with the color or texture.”
Perez is a Panamanian student pursuing studio art through a five-year program between the country and Brenau that allows students to get a bilingual education and a bachelor’s degree in the United States. Perez came to Brenau in 2021, but has been creating art since she was a young girl.
At first, art was more of a hobby, but as her talent developed, Perez decided to attend a special high school just for art. A childhood injury left Perez with a visual impairment, and she worked hard in school to prove it would not prevent her from creating. She especially enjoys the traditional forms, like painting, and says acrylic paint is her strongest medium.
Professor Claudia Wilburn invited Perez to participate in the 2022 Spring Showcase for the Arts. The event highlights several art processes, including large-scale printmaking using a steamroller. Perez says Wilburn gave her a large piece of linoleum for printmaking, but she had never worked with that medium before.
“Even though I wasn’t in her class, she took the time to teach me the craft,” Perez says. “I was in a new country, learning a new language and I was feeling stressed. When she was teaching me this new technique, I felt like I was finally doing something with art.”
Opportunities for Perez to showcase her talents and develop skills continue to arise. In January, some of her work was featured in an exhibition for Brenau students at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.
As Perez moves forward with her studies, she is interested in learning more about digital design, which she thinks is more prevalent in the United States than in Panama. She wants to learn “a little bit of everything” and would love to work for a big company like Disney. She also is interested in education.
“After I get my bachelor’s, I want to go for my master’s and doctoral degrees, so I can teach in a university like Ms. Claudia and Mr. (Huy) Chu,” Perez says. “I want to teach others how to make art, and I want to have time to make my own art. I want to work in what I love and in my passion.”
