Meet Gabi Mala Hora | Painter and Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gabi Mala Hora and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gabi, can you tell us about a book that has had a meaningful impact on you?
Books take precedent for me in my artistic research. I really enjoy reading of all sorts, fiction and non, and especially short stories. Recently, I revisited an old favorite – Eduardo Galeano’s “Memory of Fire” trilogy; It is a mash of genres, which definitely reflects itself back into my art – my style is often hard to pin down for both viewers and myself, but I feel more relaxed with that as I progress through my practice. “Memory of Fire” by Galeano is a retelling of both history and myth through often underrepresented narrators: black and indigenous poets, revolutionaries, and Mesoamerican gods tell a story of another America, one that isn’t as whitewashed as the textbooks we were fed growing up.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a painter and illustrator and a comic-book / graphic novel / writer hopeful. I am currently finishing my bachelors at UMKC in Studio Art here in Kansas City – stolen Kiikaapoi, Kaw, and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ land in the Midwest. After about a 10 year break from art and now that I am in my 30’s, I feel a lot more confident and capable of focusing on my process. When I originally went to college in my 20’s, I was struggling with addiction and also taking care of my grandmother who had Alzheimer’s.

Painting is how I reconnect to my ancestry, to my loved ones who are in the next world. My subject matter reflects this: ”mala hora” is roughly translated to “the witching hour” in English. Descending from a long line of women writers and artists, ranch-hands and painters, my personal motifs and artistic explorations include: history, science fiction, ephemera, flora/fauna, ancestry, mythology and magic. I try to express myself through historical periods and imagery as love letters to my mixed and indigenous ancestry, to all of the queer cowboys who could not be out, to all of the women who founded our families despite unmovable hardships.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Kansas City has some amazing things to do.

The Nelson Atkins museum of art, the Toy and Miniature Museum, and Powell Gardens just to name a few.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout certainly goes to other artists who I have been influenced by and admire deeply, as well as directly supporting me throughout the past few years especially: Tina of @selflovesupreme
Gowa of @neonmoonnashville
ino of @brownreclusezinedistro
Bella of @cascabellla
as well as @society6 and @procreate

Website: www.malahoraart.com

Instagram: @malahora

Other: TikTok: @malahora – this is where I show procreate process videos of my artwork!

Image Credits
Gabi Guerra Costello Depew