Joana has painted throughout her life, formally studying Art Foundations at Kingston University, UK, before going on to build Gif Design Studios — an award-winning Graphic Design agency based in Porto. For over a decade, she worked as a creative director, developing a sharp sensitivity to composition, colour, and the underlying structure that shapes how we see.

Her return to painting came when the industry shifted and AI began to automate the creative craft she'd spent years refining. She found herself picking up her old paintbrushes again, craving the irreversible mark that only her hands could make on a blank canvas.

Working primarily with acrylic, her paintings explore the tension between control and release.  The work exists somewhere between abstraction and suggestion, where composition feels intentional.

Joana works from Porto, Portugal. She continues to run her agency, Gif Design Studios, alongside her art practice.

Joana Galvão

meet the ARTIST