Meet the Artist
Gabi
Strauss
Illustration
“Featured in GradEx 111, ‘Reframed’ explores Toronto’s hidden film locations. The city is often used to stand in for somewhere else on screen, and rarely gets to be itself. This project reclaims Toronto’s identity as the backdrop for the many classic films we all know and love by bringing attention to the real settings we walk by and see every day.”
Hi! I'm Gabi, a Toronto-based painter currently finishing my BDes in Illustration at OCAD University. I focus on realism, using acrylic painting and photographic references to create high-contrast pieces that explore light and heightened perception. I love cinematography and fiction, which inspire my use of colour and dark scenes to create images that feel both familiar and surreal. I combine traditional methods and styles like chiaroscuro and glazing with my own layering techniques to play with the push and pull of light and shadow.
Painting (realism, acrylic, watercolour, etc.) Drawing (charcoal, pencil, etc.)
2026, Gabi Strauss - Reframed
Toronto
