Gabrielle Benzie
Gabrielle’s artistic journey began as a young girl playing in the woods behind her childhood home in Camden, Maine. She would spend hours collecting flowers, leaves, sticks and moss to be used in her fairy house creations, loosing track of time while walking through the trees and jumping over streams.
Gabrielle believes as children, we naturally live in the moment. It is in our adulthood that we struggle to find peace in the quiet moments and easily lose awareness of the present completely. Some of us forget the balance and joy that nature can provide and as an artist it is her hope to remind us. Gabrielle’s art is created to bridge the gap between humans and nature, leaving the no choice but to be pulled back to the here and now.
Gabrielle finds herself questioning the human experience in the natural world and the positive effects of meditative art for artist and viewer. She aspires to understand how intricate art and the process of creating it can be a meditative practice for the artist and an equally valuable experience for the audience.
This creative practice can be seen in her collections of hand pressed flora collages. These pieces pay homage to her childhood in Maine, the natural beauty of our planet and her personal meditative process. All of the plant specimens included in these compositions were hand picked and pressed, with the majority foraged from the Maine wilderness.
Learn more at forageandpress.com