About Gisela

Gisela Parra is a mixed-media artist whose practice is rooted in curiosity, cultural memory, and an ongoing dialogue with place. Working out of the Eastside Atelier, her artwork sits at the intersection of painting, printmaking, collage, and photography, reflecting a deep engagement with the textures and rhythms of her lived experiences. Having travelled between Canada and South America throughout her life, Gisela draws from the colours, music, architecture, and expressive traditions of her Latin heritage. These influences appear in her work through vibrant chromatic palettes, layered surfaces, and organic compositions that seem to pulse with movement.

Her process is grounded in material exploration—building and subtracting layers to discover how light and colour interact with form. Each piece is a conversation between the tactile and the intangible: memory, identity, and personal narrative emerge not as literal symbols, but as subtle echoes within luminosity, pattern, and texture. In her studio, intuition and experimentation guide her, allowing the artwork to unfold through gestural mark-making, collage, and the physicality of layering. Rather than depicting specific places or moments, her work evokes sensations—warmth, rhythm, histories lived and carried.

Gisela’s training in multiple disciplines informs this multidisciplinary approach: she holds a BFA in Printmaking and Painting from the University of Alberta and a BFA in Photography from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. As an arts educator, she is dedicated to nurturing creativity, encouraging others to explore materials with openness and curiosity.

Whether teaching in the studio or working on her own projects, she believes that art is a space for connection—between cultures, between memory and imagination, and between individuals seeking to express and understand their place in the world. Her work invites viewers to linger, to notice the layers, and to consider the quiet stories held within the surface of things.