Naturally intuitive and compelled to make paintings, Toni Gallo always identified with being a visual artist. She grew up in Minnesota and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Humboldt State University, ending her formal art education in Florence, Italy in a painting and art historical program. Since then she has maintained a studio practice, and has been teaching yoga + meditation practices for over 8 years.

Gallo’s work is exhibited and collected locally and nationally including the Mayo Clinic collection. She has been awarded a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grant and served as a panelist. Gallo continues to build upon her success while researching and experimenting with new ways to form connections and substantiate the power of art.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Artists manifest and articulate a special current, one rooted in trust of the interior landscape of existence. My paintings are born of an access to the energy of creativity activated with meditation and awareness practices deeply entwined with mysticism and spiritual philosophy.
These practices serve as conduits, bringing forth unique energy that captures moments of consciousness. The resulting artworks vibrate with a profound sense of peace, mimicking a meditative state that, in essence, becomes a component of healing. It is in this light that I persist in creating, sharing, and exhibiting, while researching and experimenting to forge connections and substantiate the inherent power of art.
In my current body of work the landscape is dominant with figurative features flowing in and out suggesting a synchronous vibration. Nature, as the spiritual condition of existence, holds an undeniable power to draw us toward self discovery and peace. The paintings offer an assembly of matter revealing the exquisite design of living, the unobstructed force of nature, conveyed through the strength of suggestion—appearing mystical in its manifestation.
Executed primarily on canvas using acrylic and mixed media, each painting is approached with a minimalist formula, utilizing necessity to create the most resonant suggestion. Employing a variety of paint applications with brushes, palette knives, and drawing tools, I experiment with soundscapes emanating from the artwork, using poetic titles as embellishments. Recent pieces serve as a pause, a break in distraction, displaying a condition of completeness through presence—a sense-making without conscious thought, reflecting our spiritual nature through creative practice.