Work samples
-
Painted StoriesPainted Stories is 60 mixed media portraits built as a large structure. Most are real people and each portrait has a story written on the back.
Here's an example of one of the stories: "Another Saturday painting Jenn in her butterfly dress, sitting so calmly, no boys, no noise. I added 'hydrogen', the first element, to Jenn's portrait. Her home life was, from the telling of it, like a time bomb... highly flammable like hydrogen. Somehow, she balanced those realities... the calm, the ticking bomb and the butterfly." -
Come and GoThis piece is inspired by one of my painting classes. “Come and Go” became our circle during the pandemic as if we were meeting in person instead of online. There’s a bowl for each student, symbolic of giving and receiving. Birds dip into the circle and fly away in different directions. The horizon line grounds the group.
30"x44.5", acrylic, graphite, marker and colored pencil on paper
-
Sewn FiguresThe sewn figures parallel my painting and mixed media processes. Stitching is drawing, fabric is paint and attached objects create layers. Through collecting, sorting and valuing, materials headed for the landfill are sewn together to make something whole again.
Each figure is made entirely from discarded and re-purposed materials except for thread, paint and some beads on the faces. Materials have included: electric toothbrush rings, gift bag handles, shoelaces, broken costume jewelry, hospital socks, old beads and buttons, rosaries and medals of saints, graduation tassels, sequins, leather scraps, fabric and yarn. Everything is hand sewn with a simple looping stitch.
-
Tearing PrayersMy grandmother, mother and aunts recited daily rosaries into their 80’s and 90’s. Their hands worked a well-worn path from the crucifix to the first few beads, around the loop and back. They prayed, paced and rocked. They prayed while vacuuming, making sauce, changing diapers. Prayers, were in their DNA.
I started tearing arrows from old paintings and to-do lists during the 2015 uprisings in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. In heartbreak, I was reminded of the women with their rosaries and my own childhood laps around the beads. For me, tearing arrows has become a form of prayer. I continue to make them. There will always be people and places needing love.
My grandmother's sauce pot, paint, ink, graphite, colored pencil, marker, paper
About Gina

Gina Pierleoni uses portraiture to spark conversations about empathy and our common humanity. Portraiture is the opposite of assumption. Pierleoni’s images are acts of deep seeing that push past label and judgments; they seek to "de-separate" us.
In every series, Pierleoni assembles pieces to create a larger whole. Portraits of real people placed together become a community or congregation. Older, paintings are fitted in new ways to make large Human Icons that record a… more
Mixed Media Portraits
-
Painted StoriesPainted Stories is 60 mixed media portraits built as a large structure. Most portraits feature real people and each portrait has a story written on the back of the panel.
Here's an example of one of the stories: "Another Saturday painting Jenn in her butterfly dress, sitting so calmly, no boys, no noise. I added 'hydrogen', the first element, to Jenn's portrait. Her home life was, from the telling of it, like a time bomb... highly flammable like hydrogen. Somehow, she balanced those realities... the calm, the ticking bomb and the butterfly.
-
Transmission“Transmission” considers connection, communication and isolation during the pandemic as inhaling and exhaling at close range is risky. One of ‘the gifts of COVID-19’ is discovering alternate ways to cultivate community and practice self-leadership. Though physically separated from one another, we continue to share experiences, exchange ideas, images and support.
acrylic, graphite, marker and colored pencil on paper
31"x22.5"
Birds
The more things devolved in life, the more I turned to birds for solace. I watched for them, listened to their conversations and trusted that no matter what happened, nests would continue to be made, baby birds would continue to be born and later fledge.
The less I understood about where people go after their bodies die, the more credence I gave to the birds as intermediaries between worlds, as though they didn't recognize a dividing line. Birds continue to find a place in my paintings.
-
Come and Go“Come and Go”, inspired by my painting class, became our circle as if we were meeting in person. There’s a bowl for each student. Bowls are symbolic of giving and receiving. Birds dip into the circle and fly away in different directions. The horizon line grounds the group.
acrylic, graphite, marker and colored pencil
31"x45"
What Makes Us (Us) portrait installation
at Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD
Exhibition Statement
Everyone deserves to be seen and heard.
Over the past 26 years, I created nearly 300 portraits of people across the spectrum of familiarity. These images push past labels and judgements as they question perception, habit, and bias in how we place ourselves in relation to others. What Makes Us (Us) is the first time nearly the entire series has been displayed in one place.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, I frequently sketched commuters and the homeless population inside Grand Central Station in New York. Sometimes I would have a conversation that resulted in the person asking to have their portrait drawn. The volunteers were almost exclusively homeless. I offered the drawing as a thank you for our time together. The more I showed up, the more people would ask me to draw them. The deeper the connection, the closer the image resembled the sitter.
During the same years, I bartended at a train station lounge. Some of the regulars were Vietnam veterans, who shared their struggles to reintegrate. Their compassion for one another regardless of rank was touching. Drawing portraits of them created conversations. I noticed parallel shame and invisibility among the homeless and veterans.
Sketching became a form of advocacy. I didn’t imagine these drawings would one day provide a gateway to my own healing, form the central philosophy for my teaching and community building, and build a platform for the art I cared about making.
When the series began, I made several drawings of my voice. The first portraits, emotionally raw unearthings, used mostly charcoal lines. The process was physical, empowering. Each year I added more portraits. The pieces were reworked over months, years until the images came alive. Using a similar scale created an absence of hierarchy.
I use portraiture to spark conversations about empathy and our common humanity. Portrait painting demands curiosity, stillness and deep observation. My portraits are multi-layered: drawn, painted, scratched into, stamped and stenciled under, over and through the surfaces. I am painting from the inside out to convey the emotional fabric of someone, in addition to how they look. These are real people, alive, changing, genuine and vulnerable.”
-
Making ConversationsFollowing an artist talk, 'Making Conversation' premiered during the run of 'What Makes Us (US)'. An original performance, it featured four local musicians who had never played together: Benny Russell, Helen Yuen, Cliff Giles and Sera Bailey-Emberson. Using long pieces of bamboo with chalk stuffed in one end, audience participants drew on the gallery floor inspired by the improvisational sounds they heard.
-
What Makes Us (Us) detail#115 (pictured center)
Another Saturday painting Jenn in her butterfly dress, sitting so calmly, no boys, no noise. I added ‘hydrogen’, the first element to Jenn’s portrait. Her home life was, from the telling of it, a time bomb… highly flammable like hydrogen. Somehow she balanced those realities… the calm, the ticking bomb, and the butterfly.
Each portrait in the installation has notes written on the reverse side. They reference the sitter, the process or what was going on at the time the painting was made. In this installation of over 240 portraits, about 15 paintings had text revealed.
-
What Makes Us (Us) detail"#275 (pictured center right)
This painting came from thinking about thinking, what the mind looks like engaged, overstimulated and then perfectly still, satisfied.
Each portrait in the installation has notes written on the reverse side. They reference the sitter, the process or what was going on at the time the painting was made. In this installation of over 240 portraits, about 15 paintings had text revealed.
-
What Makes Us (Us) detail#7 (pictured center right)
Self Portrait, direct, matter of fact with Trane's wild 3-year old lines telling a whole other story. Collaboration is a good thing. It stretches us in unpredictable ways."
Each portrait in the installation has notes written on the reverse side. They reference the sitter, the process or what was going on at the time the painting was made. In this installation of over 240 portraits, about 15 paintings had text revealed.
-
What Makes Us (Us) detail#287 (pictured center)
The background triangles were made in 1980 at CNR in NY, part of a larger painting. I added Steve in 2002 then tore him in half in 2016.
Trust: above triangles
Control: below triangles
Washed over like water in 2018
Each portrait in the installation has notes written on the reverse side. They reference the sitter, the process or what was going on at the time the painting was made. In this installation of over 240 portraits, about 15 paintings had text revealed.
-
What Makes Us (Us) detail#28 (pictured center right)
From the collection of Mary Alice McGurrin (Rest in Peace). Mary Alice bought 10 raffle tickets in 1999 helping me to raise money to go to Florence, Italy where I was part of the Florence Biennale. Her ticket was a winner and she chose this painting. The piece came back to me after she died. I added extra detail on the mouth in 2017 because her words and actions were so sweet and loving.
Each portrait in the installation has notes written on the reverse side. They reference the sitter, the process or what was going on at the time the painting was made. In this installation of over 240 portraits, about 15 paintings had text revealed.
-
Interview with Gina PierleoniVideo interview of Gina Pierleoni at the opening of What Makes Us (Us) at Creative Alliance.
Tearing Prayers, Arrows, and Video Interviews
My grandmother, mother and aunts recited daily rosaries into their 80’s and 90’s. Their hands worked a well-worn path from the crucifix to the first few beads, around the loop and back. They prayed, paced and rocked. They prayed while vacuuming, making sauce, changing diapers. Prayers, were in their DNA.
I started tearing arrows from old paintings and to-do lists during the 2015 uprisings in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. In heartbreak, I was reminded of the women with their rosaries and my own childhood laps around the beads. For me, tearing arrows has become a form of prayer. I continue to make them. There will always be people and places needing love.
______________________________________________
The arrow paintings and installations represent emphasis, sustained attention, inner wisdom, a choice, the power of individuals and groups to create change.
______________________________________________
Three video interviews are part of the“Motivation on Monday” series by Myles Banks of Just Stunt Productions.
-
Tearing PrayersMy grandmother, mother and aunts recited daily rosaries into their 80’s and 90’s. Their hands worked a well-worn path from the crucifix to the first few beads, around the loop and back. They prayed, paced and rocked. They prayed while vacuuming, making sauce, changing diapers. Prayers, were in their DNA.
I started tearing arrows from old paintings and to-do lists during the 2015 uprisings in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. In heartbreak, I was reminded of the women with their rosaries and my own childhood laps around the beads. For me, tearing arrows has become a form of prayer. I continue to make them. There will always be people and places needing love.
-
Untitled Flag exhibit interview with Myles Banks
-
Reframing Your MindThis video, part of a series called “Motivation on Monday”, was filmed and edited by Myles Banks of Just Stunt Productions. Being willing to have conversations is another possibilty for coming together.
-
Your Thoughts Are PowerfulThis video, part of a series called “Motivation on Monday”, was filmed and edited by Myles Banks of Just Stunt Productions. Being willing to have conversations is another possibility for coming together.
Sewn Figures
Each figure is made entirely from discarded and re-purposed materials except for thread and paint. Materials have included: electric toothbrush rings, gift bag handles, any small things with holes in them, shoelaces, broken costume jewelry, hospital socks, old beads and buttons, rosaries and medals of saints, graduation tassels, sequins, leather scraps, fabric and yarn. Everything is sewn together with a simple looping stitch.
-
The Win‘The Win’ is constructed using elements from my mother’s nursing home room collected during her last three weeks. The armature is built and stuffed with hospital socks. Also attached are gift bag handles, shoelaces, her religious medals, feathers and a bingo prize. Materials used are 100% repurposed/recycled excluding thread.
Human Icons
These paintings honor and make visible moments of transformation within the people they depict.
Most are made of multiple panels from old paintings, reconfigured and reworked. Joining pieces in new ways mirrors how we continually upgrade versions of ourselves. Some 'older' areas remain visible in their entirety, other areas are largely obscured. The figures emerge from a long, multi-layered history.
Forgetting Memory
In the next few months, she rebounded and learned to walk with a walker. Her ability to speak returned but her memory was dramatically impacted. She asked questions like, “Was I a good mother?” and “Was I a good wife?” She didn't remember all of her 9 children unless she named them from oldest to youngest. My parents had been married for over 50 years but she'd misplaced her memories of him. It was as if the files in her brain had been randomly ransacked and areas were deleted or mismatched.
In many ways, she was more content because she didn't remember what troubled her in the past. My mother became funnier, even to herself, asking questions like, “What do you call the thing with two holes?” I replied, “Pants?” She called her walker a wagon and most of the time was OK with her mix-ups. It was game we played of remembering and sometimes I got the answers right.
These drawings reflect the space between my mother's mind before and after, memory and forgetting, the frustration of losing something you can’t find again, and the playful moments that sometimes happen when loss is treated like an adventure.
-
Forgetting MemoryForgetting Memory
My mother, a healthy, active 86-year old, developed an infection which traveled to her brain. She was completely transformed, bed ridden and frail. Initially, she was only able to say a handful of phrases which, strung together, seemed meaningless: “You know”, "Wow”, and “I was thinking.” Every once in a while, she had moments of startling clarity.
In the next few months, she rebounded and learned to walk with a walker. Her ability to speak returned but her memory was dramatically impacted. She asked questions like, “Was I a good mother?” and “Was I a good wife?” She didn't remember all of her 9 children unless she named them from oldest to youngest. My parents had been married for over 50 years but she'd misplaced her memories of him. It was as if the files in her brain had been randomly ransacked and areas were deleted or mismatched.
In many ways, she was more content because she didn't remember what troubled her in the past. My mother became funnier, even to herself, asking questions like, “What do you call the thing with two holes?” I replied, “Pants?” She called her walker a wagon and most of the time was OK with her mix-ups. It was game we played of remembering and sometimes I got the answers right.
These drawings reflect the space between my mother's mind before and after, memory and forgetting, the frustration of losing something you can’t find again, and the playful moments that sometimes happen when loss is treated like an adventure.
Wearable: Painting Rag Shirts
In the process of making paintings, I clean my brushes and stencils on rags made from old cut up T-shirts. The combination of colors and patterns that appear on the scraps is not replicated in any of the rags. Though I didn't realize it would be, sewing the shirts back together is very much like making a painting. It is a balancing act, a push and pull, and eventually, after days, weeks, months, it's done. The difference is I can wear these paintings.
The Backstory: I’ve saved these painting rags for 35 years. I couldn't part with them because the colors on the T-shirt scraps were remnants of the paintings I'd created. They sat around for decades accumulating. I started sorting the fabric into short and long sleeves, bottom edges, necklines and middle sections. It seemed natural to sew pieces back together. The process became a way to reference the figure and my personal history as a painter. My palette has changed many times over the years. This ongoing series transforms the rags back into paintings.
-
Last Shirt2 weeks before my father died, it became difficult to get T-shirts over his head and my mother cut the fronts for easier access. In this shirt, I created something to honor his transition, using a stone wall to describe his dying process. Stones are laid strong and firm. They protect us and mark where we are. Over time, stones fall down changing the shape of the wall.
There is also an image of a lion on the front of the shirt. My father's last name (and mine) Pierleoni, means "father of the lion."
Painting rags reassembled and sewn back together, acrylic and thread on cotton fabric -
Fur ShirtAs an avid collector and recycler, it is difficult to throw away the littlest scraps, especially when they are so beautiful. The Fur Shirt was created by individually and obsessively sewing hundreds of strands of painting rags onto a shirt made of reassembled painting rags. The shirt refers to fur because the many layers create a thick, billowing effect.
Painting rags reassembled and sewn back together, acrylic and thread on cotton fabric
Statues for My Father
The final pieces are mounted on wood, freestanding like statues.
Visible Man Revealed
-
Nature ManNature Man pairs images and symbols of nature with human nature. This drawing includes some of the ways we catalogue, from the Periodic Table to geographical borders. Though most of nature might be considered neutral, there are images associated with beauty, temptation and renewal.
marker on paper, 16"x8" -
SensualManSensual Man primarily includes that which we cannot intellectualize or hold in our hands: the unknown, our faith and emotions, the creative force, the blood coursing through our veins, music, sexual urges, nature and storytelling. Our senses are also heightened through our connections to one another and the world around us.
Marker on paper, 16.5"x7.5"