Gloria “GEM” Sanchez as an artist

Gloria “Gem” Sanchez is a Xicana-Filipina American interdisciplinary artist and art educator from the Harbor and South Bay area of Tovaangar (Los Angeles, CA). She works in painting, assemblage, weaving, installation, and sign making. Blending everyday objects with traditional art materials, she creates work to showcase the history of her family and culture.

Gloria is dedicated to her art practices as a means of spiritual survival and healing. Her works serve as altars to establish a connection with history and the strengths found in her ancestors’ journeys.The use of organic materials serve to transcend the effects of intergenerational trauma and marginalization, encouraging the push for spiritual acknowledgement and decolonization. Her work with fibers is representative of the many interconnecting and intersectional layers that manifest in her emotional and physical existence as a woman of color in America.