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“I have always looked at cultural identity in my work and it continues, but I wanted to speak to a larger audience – not be so specific – and I believe that abstract work has been the answer to this. I am able to discuss colors, lines, culture and contemporary materials without the limitations of figure and form. I can now approach my art in a more conceptual manner.  The result is now an explosion of information that is woven together by cultural lines and tells a story about how a group of people are identified, ignored, or celebrated in the media.  I continue to recycle what I and others can’t make use of in our daily lives. I often take the opportunity to use this material as the foundation for my exploration of color and texture. I love to see how random images can come together and tell a story of a particular time in history and how I can manipulate them to tell my story.  I am trying to find myself in the colors and content to re-purpose the materials and to find a way to discuss topics as passionately as the media publishers’ materials are intent on doing.”

– GA Gardner from a 2014 interview in Art: Jamaica.

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GA Gardner was born in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and migrated to the USA in 1988 where he earned his BA in Visual Arts and MA from San Francisco State University. He also received a Ph.D. in Art Education from The Ohio State University where he focused on Computer Fine Art and Animation.  At the age of 25 Gardner was appointed as a full-time professor of art at William Paterson University and prepared students for animation careers at major studios such as Pixar Animation Studio, Industrial Light and Magic and DreamWorks SKG. During this time he authored 25 text books and published over 100 books on the subject of art education. Gardner has lectured and been an art education consultant at various universities including UCLA, Fashion Institute of Technology, and Florida A&M University.  He has also served as associate professor at George Mason University and professor of art at University of the District of Columbia.  His work has been exhibited at various museums and galleries in the USA, Asia and the Caribbean including the James E. Lewis Museum of Art; Paterson Museum, New Jersey; Nanjing College of Art, China; Corridor Gallery, New York; Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts, St Croix, USVI; Bergen Museum, New Jersey and Morton Fine Art, DC.  He has been awarded artist residencies in the Caribbean and Asia.