About Gianna
Photo by Rachel Stern - msrachelstern.com
Gianna Pergamo is an illustrator and designer from Brooklyn, NY. She now lives and works in sunny St. Petersburg, FL. Gianna graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2011. Creating art her whole life, it was in college when she discovered her love of mixed media and penchant for narrative imagery.
Gianna runs Pergamo Paper Goods, a collection of her vintage inspired collage art for animal lovers. Besides the originals, she sells reproductions in the form of signed art prints, greeting cards, stickers, ornaments, and more, both online and through boutiques across the country. Gianna also does freelance illustration for books and contract graphic design work.
The images Gianna creates for Pergamo Paper Goods are very character driven and are inspired by vintage advertisements and textiles. The characters are always animals and the pictures are fanciful and humorous. These painting-collages are usually made on canvas and incorporate original acrylic painting, photocopied (and re-photocopied and re-photocopied) images, drawing with pen, pencil, and marker, and gel transfers of patterns.
Non-Pergamo Paper Goods images are less consistent with a particular style. In regards to subject matter, Gianna’s other work is sometimes still narrative but is less based around character and more based on space and texture. In regards to medium, some of these pieces are mostly paint, some are mostly collage, and some combine the two in a completely different way.
Gianna’s process oscillates between creating form or character and adding pattern or texture. Usually she works on several pieces at once, so she can mix and match collaged pieces with painted ones. A painting rarely follows a linear progression to its completion; rather, Gianna starts with the intent of the pieces rather than a detailed plan. Often preparation includes very loosely sketching various scenes, interactions, and compositions, then compiling imagery or creating characters with those situations in mind. Sometimes several paintings will be integrated into one, or one painting will be deconstructed into two or more. In this way, making a painting is more an act of discovery than a task to be completed.
Gianna is inspired by:
-Animals, especially her dogs Sophie and Scout
-Colors and textures in nature
-Old magazines, maps, and how-to booklets
-Contemporary fiction and podcasts
Gianna runs Pergamo Paper Goods, a collection of her vintage inspired collage art for animal lovers. Besides the originals, she sells reproductions in the form of signed art prints, greeting cards, stickers, ornaments, and more, both online and through boutiques across the country. Gianna also does freelance illustration for books and contract graphic design work.
The images Gianna creates for Pergamo Paper Goods are very character driven and are inspired by vintage advertisements and textiles. The characters are always animals and the pictures are fanciful and humorous. These painting-collages are usually made on canvas and incorporate original acrylic painting, photocopied (and re-photocopied and re-photocopied) images, drawing with pen, pencil, and marker, and gel transfers of patterns.
Non-Pergamo Paper Goods images are less consistent with a particular style. In regards to subject matter, Gianna’s other work is sometimes still narrative but is less based around character and more based on space and texture. In regards to medium, some of these pieces are mostly paint, some are mostly collage, and some combine the two in a completely different way.
Gianna’s process oscillates between creating form or character and adding pattern or texture. Usually she works on several pieces at once, so she can mix and match collaged pieces with painted ones. A painting rarely follows a linear progression to its completion; rather, Gianna starts with the intent of the pieces rather than a detailed plan. Often preparation includes very loosely sketching various scenes, interactions, and compositions, then compiling imagery or creating characters with those situations in mind. Sometimes several paintings will be integrated into one, or one painting will be deconstructed into two or more. In this way, making a painting is more an act of discovery than a task to be completed.
Gianna is inspired by:
-Animals, especially her dogs Sophie and Scout
-Colors and textures in nature
-Old magazines, maps, and how-to booklets
-Contemporary fiction and podcasts