Gabrielle Diaz

Inspired by nudity filters commonly found on TV, enclosed numbing reflects the artist’s personal relationship with mainstream media—a process of becoming lost in the abundance of unrealistic and digitally retouched photos. Images on social media often portray an idealized lifestyle and intrude our most intimate spaces. Growing up, Diaz did not see people of colour or a variety of body types represented in mainstream media; stretch marks, body fat, and her dark complexion contrasted to the white, skinny female prototype depicted on her screens. Through cropping images found on social media and assembling pixelated-like grids with them, Diaz reckons with feeling haunted by the saturation of diet fads and Botox-frozen foreheads found in the media.

Gabrielle Diaz is a graphic designer born and raised in Mississauga. She is in her final year at the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College, where she is completing a double major in Art & Art History and Communication, Culture, Information & Technology (CCIT). Diaz’s practice combines photography and sculpture through which she employs found objects, corrupt image files, and surrealist imagery. Aspiring to work in advertising, Diaz’s work explores the impact of mainstream media on mental health and well-being.