Mitchell Gaudet

Mitchell Gaudet was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, received his Bachelor of Arts from Louisiana State University and his Master of Fine Arts from Tulane University. In 1991 he founded Studio Inferno, a glass production studio and artist space, which is currently located in Waveland Mississippi. Concurrently with the running of his studio he continued his personal artistic and teaching career. He has exhibited work both nationally and internationally and has received a Pollock-Krasner Grant, a Joan Mitchell Award, and a Mississippi Individual Artists grant. Mitchell recently completed a three-month residency on Governors Island, New York where he was able to continue his work dealing with gun violence in the United States.

Artist Member since 2025

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Louisiana State University

Master of Fine Arts, Tulane University

current EXHIBITION

JUNE 26 - JULY 26, 2026

ARTIST STATEMENT

Found objects, subtle references to history, and satirical responses to current events are recurring themes in my art, and my exhibition Gilt Trip is no exception. This body of work incorporates deconsecrated religious statues, kitsch swallows and floral ornaments, and generous layers of gold leaf and paint. These objects and materials serve as both subject and medium, carrying with them histories of devotion, sentimentality, and cultural memory.

I am drawn to the physical presence and emotional weight of these once-venerated objects. I try to honor their past while repurposing them with new narratives and meanings. Retaining elements of their worn, funky original state acknowledges their previous lives, even as they are transformed into vehicles for contemporary commentary.

I often joke that I am adding knickknacks to a knickknack, but I believe that the simplest objects can carry powerful messages. Message along with beauty. I am equally motivated by a desire to create awfully beautiful art. My use of glass offers this seductive element and allows me to disguise difficult or unsettling ideas. In Gilt Trip, beauty becomes both invitation and deception drawing viewers in before revealing the more complex and often troubling narratives beneath the gilded surface.