Visual artist Gabriella Burns was born in Melbourne, Australia and is now based in Glasgow. She paints large scale colourful female forms which represent the male gaze through the lens of girlhood, seeing the subject as a representative object, drawing similarities with dolls. She employs the human figure as a structural tool to construct abstract compositions, balancing anatomical accuracy with creative abstraction.
Gabriella’s work draws on her own experiences, discussing the female identity and the changing relationship between objectification and naivety in the time period between childhood, adolescence and womanhood. Her work reflects an attempted comprehension of the male gaze through the lens of girlhood- the slow realisation of misogyny and sexualisation of the women that comes with observations and experiences that take place through these developmental stages.
Gabriella graduated with a BA (Hons) Painting & Printmaking from the Glasgow School of Art ’25. We were delighted to feature Gabriella’s work in our 2025 Breakouts show – our renowned annual showcase of the best talent coming out of the Scottish Art Schools.
