Gabriel Dawe is a Mexican-born artist living in Dallas who utilizes miles of vibrantly-colored sewing thread to create soaring installations that evoke a sense of viewing rays of light. The breadth of his work revolves around the use of sewing and embroidery materials to explore issues of pain, equality and gender roles, but it’s his highly popular Plexus series of installations that has garnered him acclaim worldwide. Gabriel obtained a bachelor’s degree from the Universidad de las Americas in Puebla, Mexico before moving to Montreal to pursue a career in graphic design. In 2008, he relocated to Dallas where he obtained his MFA from the University of Texas – Dallas and was part of the highly-touted Centraltrak residency program. Over the last eight years, Gabriel has installed temporary or permanent works in over 35 private and public institutions worldwide, including the Smithsonian Museum’s Renwick Gallery, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art where his Plexus 34 is on display in the Philip Johnson designed space until September 2, 2018

I recently sat down with Gabriel at his Dallas studio where we discussed his childhood in Mexico, his grandmother’s influence, his life as a graphic designer in Canada, the importance of Centraltrak, experimenting with glass, and his discomfort with heights.