GINA SOUTHGATE
Growing up in Essex, Gina did a two-year foundation course at Southend College of Technology, just after the emergence of Punk. The course was a turning point, were she met an important and influential group of people who emerged from that place and time. Gina then moved to London to do a degree in silversmithing/metalwork at Camberwell School of Art and Crafts followed by a postgraduate year in pewter casting.
Gina worked as a professional artist for three decades. She had numerous exhibitions as a metalworker, won design competitions, worked for architects, and taught jewellery and metal in adult education at a foundation level. She has also been Artist in Residence for the Arts Council of Wales, exploring cast aluminium.
Through a growing interest in music, and the aesthetics of musical instruments, she began to paint at gigs, which coincided with a desire to work in a faster medium than metal. Since then her music imagery has appeared on CD covers and in music magazines, she has created site and stage decorations, has taken part in group and solo exhibitions, and has taught screen printing in schools and community groups. Gina has also run painting with music workshops, performed using audio visuals and painted live at an international level with fine musicians. Her work is in public and private collections across the globe. Gina paints the music!