Bio

Elody Gyekis is a painter and multi-disciplinary artist based in Pennsylvania. She is currently faculty at the New York Academy of Art where she teaches online classes. She earned her MFA in Painting at the New York Academy of the Arts in 2019 and her BFA in Painting and Ceramics from Penn State in 2009. She exhibits primarily in New York and Pennsylvania, and has participated in shows across the United States and Central America. Her work is in private collections in Germany, England, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Brazil, China, and Canada. She completed artist residencies in Sibiu, Romania in 2014 and Giverny, France in 2018. She has taught painting workshops and classes in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Costa Rica, and Honduras. She was a resident artist and assistant curator at the Green Drake Gallery and Arts Center in Millheim, PA from 2010-2017.

Elody is also a community arts organizer and muralist for over a dozen murals across Pennsylvania, as well as murals in New Jersey and Arizona. She has also been involved in non-mural public art projects, including leading the “Book Benches of Centre County” public art project in 2014 - 2016. In addition to Pennsylvania, she divides her time between Brooklyn and Central America.

Elody’s artwork pushes the boundaries of gender roles and celebrates femininity, using the language of myth and fairytales as a process of personal catharsis. When not doing self-portraits, she works intimately with her subjects, creating collaborative portraits that celebrate their unique identities. Natural themes also dominate her work, which is often filled with flora, fauna and landscapes.

Her resumé can be downloaded here.