Gil’s relationship with clay began before formal training — shaped first by the elemental materials of childhood: mud, sand, branches, leaves, snow, and ice. His formal study of ceramics began at Hampton University under Ghanaian ceramist Kwabena Ampofo-Anti, and continued at Rutgers University, where he earned a BA in Art History with a focus on the arts of Africa and the African diaspora, taking ceramics every semester alongside his academic coursework.
From 2002 to 2008, Gil lived in Japan, teaching English while immersing himself in Japanese culture and craft. He worked from a studio at Sacred Heart School in Tokyo and studied the art of teacup-making at Suehachi Kaku Studio in Shizuoka Prefecture — an experience that deepened his understanding of clay as both a cultural and contemplative practice.
Returning to the United States in 2008, Gil joined Clayworks on Columbia in Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood while completing his Master’s in Education at Bank Street College. The work he made during this period was directly shaped by the social studies curriculum he taught — most notably his Soldiers of Justice series, figurative busts honoring abolitionists, which appeared in exhibitions across New York and New Jersey. His subsequent work from 2015 to 2019, including the United States of Lynching ceramic map and his Black Mask series, was shown in galleries in Baltimore and New Jersey.
Today, Gil lives and works in Oakland, California. He teaches maker education at Prospect Sierra School in El Cerrito and is the founder of Make Space Studios LLC, through which he offers workshops in figurative sculpture, pottery, and maker education. He is also a member of The Potter’s Studio in Berkeley, where he was a featured artist in 2025.