211. Gabriela Max - Despair

2026
pigment on linen
17.8 x 16.2 cm

Gabriela Max (b. 1992) was born and raised in Brazil and is now based at TKE Studios in Margate. Currently enrolled on the Turps Banana programme (2025–2026), her practice explores the interconnected relationship between humans, animals, and the natural environment, expressing a belief in nature as a foundational and spiritual force.

Raised without access to museums or formal art institutions, Max discovered painting through direct engagement with the landscape around her. Immersion in nature fostered an enduring fascination with colour, texture, and light, elements that continue to shape the sensory and emotional qualities of her work. Through painting, she creates spaces where human and non-human forms coexist within shifting, atmospheric environments.

Max completed an MA in Painting at Wimbledon College of Arts, University of the Arts London, in 2019.

Recent exhibitions include This Is Love at TKE Studios, Margate, Kent (2026) and Small Is Beautiful at Flowers Gallery, UK (2025).