I make images to understand things I don't know yet — about the world, about what changes when you shift how you look at it. Drawn by curiosity and instinct, I follow whatever pulls me toward discovery — observing, imagining, making. I create images, paintings, and short films that exist between reality and imagination, memory and presence, fragility and resilience. My practice lives in that movement between the intimate and the vast, between what's present and what's quietly absent.
Gabriela Iancu is a photographer, visual artist, and filmmaker based in Atlanta, whose work spans photography, short film, painting, and AI cinema. Her NASA short films — Apollo 11 and Welcome to Space — were selected as finalists in the NASA CineSpace International Short Film Competition and screened on NASA TV, the International Space Station, Space Center Houston, and Australia’s Science Channel. Her work has been recognized by Communication Arts and exhibited internationally.
As a Senior Visual Designer at Adobe, she designs the first experiences new users encounter, the critical moments where a creative tool earns someone’s trust or loses it forever. Working across photography, design, motion, and AI as one continuous creative language, she brings that same creative practice to mentoring the next generation through the Adobe Creative Apprenticeship Program.
A SCAD alumna holding an MFA in Photography, she is a two-time recipient of SCAD’s Alumni Atelier ambassadorship, a residency award recognizing outstanding alumni artistic practice. Her residency project examined how digital tools are reshaping the photographic experience for the future. She has led workshops at SCAD and Stanford, founded the Gabriela Iancu Scholarship at SCAD, open to all students, with priority for international photographers and those pursuing strong visual storytelling or experimental approaches to the medium. She co-founded, designed, and curated Out/Form, an AI summit held at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, bringing together filmmakers, designers, architects, and neuroscientists to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping human creativity.
Her work has been featured on the Photoshop Beta splash screen three times, on Adobe Live, Forbes, Photo Vogue, and at Adobe MAX. She is currently in production on Glasurile Pământului (The Voices of the Earth), a short AI film about grief, memory, and the idea that the people we love find ways to come back.
Contact
Exhibitions & Film Screenings
2025
SCAD’s Fine Arts Showcase (spring, group) – SCAD, Atlanta
APG Choice 2025 (group) – Atlanta Photography Group Gallery, Atlanta
2023
SCAD Public Art – 1600 Atlanta Featured Artists
Fast Forward (group), Gutstein Gallery, Savannah
Welcome to Space – Cinema Columbus Film Festival, Center for Science and Industry, Columbus
Welcome to Space – NASA CineSpace (film screening), Space Center Houston
2022
Welcome to Space – NASA CineSpace (film screening), Houston Cinema Arts Society
2021
Apollo 11- NASA CineSpace (film screening), Houston Cinema Arts Society, and Buffalo Bayou Partnership
Open Studio (online, group), SCAD, Atlanta
2020
Open Studio (online, group), SCAD, Atlanta
Apollo 11 – NASA CineSpace (film screening), Ashland Film Festival
Apollo 11 – NASA CineSpace (film screening), NASA TV
2019
Small Works (group), SCAD, Atlanta
Apollo 11 – NASA CineSpace (film screening), University of Houston Clear-Lake
Apollo 11 – NASA CineSpace (film screening), Harris County Public Library
Apollo 11 – NASA CineSpace (film screening), International Space Station
Apollo 11 – NASA CineSpace (film screening), Houston Cinema Arts Festival
Open Studio (group), SCAD, Atlanta
2017
Meural Collection (digital online collection), Meural, New York
Saatchi Screen (slideshow, 2nd floor), Saatchi Gallery, London
Alumni Atelier (installation Spring), Forsyth House, Savannah
Alumni Atelier (installation Winter), Forsyth House, Savannah
2016
Outside the Museum (solo outdoor installation), Gorj Museum, Romania
2015
Life from Light (solo, MFA Thesis), Trois Gallery, Atlanta
Out to Launch (installation), SCAD, Atlanta
Student Artist’s Book (installation), ACA Library, Atlanta
Far from Home (group), Alexander Hall Gallery, Savannah
Port City Review (group), Alexander Hall Gallery, Savannah
2014
Us and the Earth (solo), Gorj County Museum, Romania
Small Works (group), Gutstein Gallery, Savannah
Open Studio (group), SCAD, Atlanta
Silver & Ink (group), SCAD, Atlanta
Publications (Selected)
Adobe, (2026, May 12), AI in Action, Adobe Design (online)
“AI in Action”, Now and Next, A Zine About Creative Work, Adobe Design, October 2025, 11
Adobe, (2025, May 6), The Creative Cloud features Adobe’s designers can’t live without, Adobe Design (online)
Gabriela Iancu, (2024, June 19), Hacks, hobbies, and side hustles: NASA Image and Video Library, Adobe Design (online)
SCAD, (2024, January 9), Gabriela Iancu: Finding the light and exploring the creative frontier of outer space (online)
Gabriela Iancu, (2023, March 8), Designing Adobe Illustrator’s rich tooltips, Adobe Design (online)
“Making Room at the Table for Cacao” Radiant Health Magazine, no.16, The Self Care Issue, 2021, 38-47.
“The African Yam,” Radiant Health Magazine, no.15, The Motherhood Issue, 2020, 42-51.
“Nail It!,” “Grain Bowls,” “Eat Your Greens,” WebMD Magazine, July/Aug/Sept. 2020, 32, 60-61, 62.
“Love you, Dad,” “Pick Purple,” “Supper Salads,” WebMD Magazine, June 2020, 26, 54-55, 56-58.
“Mama Mia,” “Chickpeas,” “The Joy of Seeds,” WebMD Magazine, May 2020, 28, 62-64, 66-67.
“Healing Meals,” WebMD Magazine, March/April 2020, 45-47.
“In the Palm of Our Hands,” Radiant Health Magazine, no.14, Volume 2, The Rebirth Issue, 2019, 42-51.
“Tiny Teff,” Radiant Health Magazine, no.13, Volume 1, The Taboo Issue, 2019, 42-51.
“Lovely Ladies’ Fingers,” Radiant Health Magazine, no.12, Volume 2, The Womanhood Issue, 2018, 42-51.
“Moringa Madness,” Radiant Health Magazine, no.11, Volume 1, The Survivor Issue, 2018, 44-53.
Gabriela Iancu, ed., Florilegium: Contemporary Collection of Visual Arts 2, (Czech Republic: Gabriela Iancu, 2017), 1-96.
Gabriela Iancu, “On Photography: America Seen Through Photographs Greatly,” Up by Forbes, Spring 2017, 114-133.
Gabriela Iancu, “Artist Interviews,” in Imaginarium: The Process Behind the Pictures, by Claire Rosen (USA: Rocky Nook, 2017), 274-277.
“Photography Annual: Student Work,” Communication Arts 58, no.3 (July/August 2016), 195.
“A Beautiful Mess,” in Communication Arts 57, no.6, by Monica Kass Rogers (January/February 2016), 16-19.
Gabriela Iancu, ed., Florilegium: Contemporary Collection of Visual Arts 1, (Czech Republic: Gabriela Iancu, 2015), 1-96.
Gabriela Iancu, “What Gabriela Made,” Up by Forbes, ed. Diana Cosmin, Fall 2015, 32-49.
Gabriela Iancu, “Life from Light,” (M.F.A. Thesis, Savannah College of Art and Design, 2015), 1-23.
Artist Talks & Workshops
Adobe Design Summit, Design Showcase (speaker), 2026
Adobe Creative Retreat, AI Workflows (workshop), Atlanta, 2026
Adobe Creative Cafe, Creative Panel (speaker), SCAD, Savannah, 2026
Adobe Creative Retreat, Inspiration to Execution (workshop), SCAD, Savannah 2026
SCAD, AI as Creative Tension (workshop), Atlanta, 2026
Adobe, Spotlight Sessions (podcast), 2026
SCAD, AI as Material (workshop), Atlanta, 2026
USC, OUT/FORM Summit (speaker), Los Angeles, 2025
SCAD, Innovation at the Intersection of Art, Design, and AI (speaker, panel), Savannah, 2025
Adobe, Edit with Me series (speaker), San Francisco, 2025
Stanford, DK Designathon, Photoshop Next: Designing Climate Solutions with AI (workshop), 2025
SCAD, The Creative Odyssey (artist talk), Savannah, 2025
SCAD, AI-Powered Creativity (workshop), Savannah, 2025
Adobe x Planet Forward, Imagining Tomorrow: Crafting Climate Stories with Adobe AI Tools (workshop), 2024
Adobe Live, Reimagining Climate Action with AI (live stream), 2024
University of Miami, Visual Design and Visual Sustainability (artist talk), 2024
Adobe Live, How to Use GenAI Tools to Inspire Climate Action (live stream), 2023
Adobe x SCAD, Creating Visuals & Expanding Ideas with GenAI (artist talk), 2023
SCAD Mentor Program, Learning from the Pros (artist talk), Atlanta, 2023
Adobe Live, Still-Life Photography and Generative Fill (live stream), 2023
SCAD Impact Conference, Creative in Tech (speaker, panel), Atlanta, 2022
SCAD Mentor Program, Video & Related Media (artist talk), Atlanta, 2022
Adobe Live, Creating Spring-Themed Cinemagraphs (live stream), 2022
Adobe Live, Creating Interactive Photographs with AR (live stream), 2021
Adobe Live, Bring Your Photos to Life with Cinemagraphs (live stream), 2021
SCAD Guests and Gusto, Creating Cinemagraphs (live stream), 2021
SCAD Mentor Program, Video & Related Media (artist talk), Atlanta, 2021
Gorj County Museum, Still-Life in Photography, Romania (workshop), 2017
SCAD Alumni Atelier, Creating Living Stills (workshop), Savannah 2017
SCAD Alumni Atelier, Video & Related Media (workshop), Atlanta, 2017
Turner Broadcasting, Living Stills (artist talk), Atlanta 2017
SCAD, Alumni Atelier, Rise and Shine (speaker, panel), Savannah, 2017
Gorj County Museum, Outside the Museum (artist talk), Romania, 2016
SCAD, Life from Light (artist talk), Atlanta, 2015
Grants & Awards
2025
Indigo Design Award — Bronze Winner in Branding for Graphic Design (Deep Space Initiative)
Indigo Design Award — Bronze Winner in Design for Social Media for Graphic Design (Deep Space Initiative)
Indigo Design Award — Silver Winner in Education for Social Change (Imagining Tomorrow)
2022
NASA and Houston Cinema Arts Society — Official Selection (Welcome to Space Short Film)
2020
Eddie & Ozzie Awards — Honorable Mention, Data Visualization (WebMD Face Mask Mistakes)
SCINEMA International Science Film Festival Australia — Official Selection (Apollo 11 Short Film)
2019
NASA and Houston Cinema Arts Society — Official Selection (Apollo 11 Short Film)
International Photography Grant — Creative Nominee (Photography)
2017
SCAD Alumni Atelier — Artist-in-Residence (Atlanta)
SCAD Alumni Atelier — Artist-in-Residence (Savannah)
2016
Communication Arts — Award of Excellence (Photography)
Initiative for Heritage Conservation Greece — Finalist (Photogrammetry)
2015
International Photography Awards — Honorable Mention
Huffington Post — Finalist (Multimedia Fellowship Program)
Savannah College of Art and Design — Student Success Grant
Savannah College of Art and Design — Graduate Fellowship
2014
Getty Images Competition Platform — Finalist
International Photography Awards — Honorable Mention
Savannah College of Art and Design — Student Success Grant
Savannah College of Art and Design — Graduate Fellowship
2013
International Photography Awards — Honorable Mention
Savannah College of Art and Design — Graduate Fellowship
Books
- Florilegium (volume 1 & 2), Serial Journal, 2015 & 2017, in Artist Collection at the ACA Library of SCAD, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Romania, Artist Book, 2015, in Artist Collection at the ACA Library of SCAD, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Life from Light, 2015, Artist Book, limited edition, in Artist Collection at the ACA Library in Atlanta, and the Jen Library in Savannah, GA, USA