EDUCATION

1999-2001 Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art, Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
1998-1999 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
1990-1994 Bachelor of Art, cum laude, Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, VA


SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2007
Allen Gallery, Jen Mazza & Michael Delaney, New York, NY
Flowers Gallery, Small is Beautiful, New York, NY
John Davis Gallery, New Paintings, Solo Show, Hudson, New York
Tomasulo Gallery, Union County College, Scarlet Intent, Solo Show, Cranford, NJ
Jersey City Museum, The Feminine Mystique, Jersey City, NJ
General Electric, Material Witness, Fairfield, Connecticut
Raritan Valley Community College, 17 days: Jen Mazza and Rob Matthews, NJ

2006
PS122, Bearings: The Female Figure, curated by Allen Frame, New York, NY
John Davis Gallery, Carriage House, Paintings, Hudson, NY
Gallery Aferro, Substance, curated by Emma Wilcox and Evonne Davis, Newark NJ
New National Newark Building, Newark, Between Us, curated by Rupert Ravens, NJ
Anthony Giordano Gallery, Dowling College, Between Body and Object, Oakdale, NY
Visual Arts Gallery, New Jersey City University, Knots, Jersey City, NJ

2005
The New National Newark Building, 744 Redux, curator: Chakaia Booker, Newark, NJ
The Center for Visual Arts, Brookdale College, Primary/Secondary: Contemporary
Drawings, Lincroft, NJ

2004
Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, Emerge 2003, Newark, NJ
Gallery Aferro, XX XY, Newark, NJ
Beth Allison Gallery, Schadenfreude, Kansas City, MO
Millay Colony for the Arts, Impromptu, Austerlitz, NY
57 Beach Street, The Very Rich Hours, New York, NY

2003
Graphite Gallery, Odds on Favorites, Jersey City, NJ

2002
PS122, Auricle, (two person show), New York, NY
Victory Hall, Merge, Jersey City, NJ

2002
Drew University, Kaboom!, curator: Jim Jeffers, Madison, NJ

2001
Rutgers University, Dactyls, M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition, New Brunswick, NJ

2000
Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, Paper Trail, New Brunswick NJ

AWARDS

2008 Newark Museum, Artist in Residence
2006 PS122, Project Space Award 2006-2007 Blue Mountain Center, Residency Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Residency,: 2004/2005/2006, Geraldine R. Dodge Fellow
2005 Yaddo, Geraldine R. Dodge Residency
2004 The Jentel Foundation, Residency
Millay Colony for the Arts, Residency
Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, Fellowship Grant
Creative Capital, Strategic Planning Seminar Fellow
2002 Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, Emerge 2003 Artist Fellowship
2002 New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Individual Artist Fellowship

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rocío Aranda-Alvarado, 'The Feminine Mystique', Jersey City Museum, exhibition catalog. 2007.
Dan Bischoff, 'Fragments and details,' The New Jersey Star Ledger, January 19, 2007, Arts Section, p 45.
Dan Bischoff, 'Jersey City exhibit showcases 'thoughtful' reaction to feminism,' The New Jersey Star Ledger, September 29, 2007.
Jill Conner, 'The very rich hours', review, Contemporary, no. 65, October, 2004. P 77.
Benjamin Genocchio, 'Knots, in Practice and Theory,' review, The New York Times, March 19, 2006
Helen A. Harrison, 'With luck, iconoclasts find their mediums: Between Body and Object,' review, The New York Times, February 19, 2006.
Dominique Nahas, 'Timeless / Timeliness: Alira Emerge 2003', exhibition catalog, 2004, pp vii, 10.

ARTIST STATEMENT

SCHADENFREUDE

Schadenfreude is the German word for taking pleasure in another's misfortune. It is a conjunction of two opposing sentiments: Schaden, meaning damage and Freude joy. It is a dichotomy that I frequently address in my paintings. I have found that emotion and physical sensation are multifold: that in sadness there can be pleasure, in happiness pain, in violence humor. My work portrays this varied experience by combining rich color and luscious handling of paint with imagery that appears both sensuous and painful. The colors push past naturalism, approaching instead something more visceral, more internal. Each painting emphasizes a point of contact: hands squeeze, bend, poke and prod. The hands, centers of touch, become stand-ins for the whole body. By focusing on the interaction between body and object, or body and body, my paintings explore the tension and tenderness that comprise the complicated relationships between persons and between one's self and one's own body.