On 14 September 2026, TORCHES continues with a conversation with multi-hyphenate Abigail Gampel. She is a writer, performer, visual artist, and board member who has worked in the downtown community over the last thirty-plus years.
Actor, writer, singer, painter, director, mover, board member, activist, mother, woman constantly shifting as my work is about the doings of my life. I discover it in the sharing. The solo work came through tiny mythic’s The American Living Room my teacher Susan Batson saying ‘don’t hide’, ‘make a solo’—the show and character of the Underground Goddess emerged. Everything connects to the mystery in the marrow—how the bones ride as they do—even before my spirit inhabited them—and is working its way out in this lifetime. That’s my personal belief. I fight for the artist’s right to process—not to be shiny—but to be in the murk. That’s why I’ve been an artist board member at HERE and EST—in truth, it’s a love letter for my parents who were actors, but seeking self as people first. The artist as breath for the population. Wildly necessary.
