Wish Garbow (they/them) was born in Minneapolis, raised in the twin cities, and is now based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Wish is a self-taught creative with a main focus in painting; their work encompasses the intersectionality of their culture, gender identity and disability. Identifying as two-spirit, Wish is Black and Anishinaabe and has worked to recover their gender expression since the knowledge of two-spirit people has been more recently restored and celebrated. In light of their identity, their work was featured in New Native Theatre’s 5th Annual Pow Wow zine in 2026. Diagnosed later in life, Wish is working towards social and self acceptance with their autism by pushing their memories and experiences into their art. Wish aims to show in local galleries while growing their skills and portfolio.
I make art to convert and define my emotions, memories, appreciation, and understandings for myself and those around me. Sometimes I struggle to verbalize my experiences clearly but my art has allowed me to bridge that gap and portray what I can’t explain. My art ranges from large pieces to small scale pieces, most of it done on canvas. I primarily use acrylic paint and pastels in my work although I experiment with other mediums like airbrush and oil pastels. My work includes portraits with contrasting backgrounds such as stark negative space or reimagined details like airbrushed strokes of blue surrounding the subject immersing them into an emotional atmosphere. Other pieces are abstract, bold and colorful, pushing bursts of color and movement to depict experience and emotion.