Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabrielle Johnston.
Gabrielle, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I think it would be cliché of me to say that I was bullied, hell everyone was, but it still doesn’t make it ok. Growing up, I realized I was going to be a very tall girl. My mom was 5’9, my father was 6’1 and my two older brothers were 6’4. I was cursed with the tall gene, and I knew it. skipping forward, I went to a predominately white/ Hispanic school. Everyone had silky bone straight hair or wavy dirty blonde hair. The girls were short, blue eyed and just what all the guys wanted.
I was a mixed (Jamaican and German) black girl with curly hair, buck teeth and a slim build. I was bullied all up until 11th grade of high school. I finally broke out my shell and took some of the negativity that I was given every single day of my life and turned it into a positive. The “you’ll never find a man to love you because you look like a man” makes me chuckle till this day. I am 19 years old, about to be 20 on February 2nd. I have traveled to New York for a fashion show and have booked quite a few ever since. My time isn’t over, it has just begun.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My art is my body, aka modeling, that’s what I get paid for. I am here to help woman and little girls step out their comfort zone and LOVE themselves. No matter the body shape or look, all bodies are enough.
The sterotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about?
I had a situation where I was asked last minute to perform in a fashion show in New York (New York street fashion week), and I had three days to book my ticket and find a hotel. I didn’t have the funds at the time so my parents lent me $960 to get me there. I was really grateful. Point being is that, my parents know how big this was to me (it was my first runway show). Money will always return, experiences don’t happen more than once. Do what you can at the moment, but never stop your craft completely because of finances, on hold, never stop.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I post majority of my photoshoots/inspirations and work on my Instagram page. gabrielleajohnston.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabrielleajohnston/
- Other: https://www.frontmanagement.com/portfolio/women-new-faces/women/1384997/gabrielle
Image Credit:
@jordanjpatterson_
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