Virginia Gapski

I create sculptures, installations, and paintings that use medical images of the body’s internal structures to promote my conception of healing and reconnection. I aim to challenge the common Western view of the body as just a machine by focusing on our shared, biological interior, which is a complex natural network. My mission is encourage viewers to see themselves as intricate systems that hold ancient wisdom. In my work I often weave esoteric and religious symbols to convey a deeply personal message of healing. I primarily use ceramics and embroidery techniques I inherited from my grandmother, sometimes layering them in painted backgrounds. In my work I use the direct comparison between embroidery stitches and medical suturing; I view the act of stitching as a meditative, healing process that joins previously open and disconnected parts. I emphasize that fragile individual elements (like a stitch or a cell) become a resistant, interwoven surface when multiplied and layered, demonstrating that the body’s parts gain power when they are together and regenerate.