March 27, 2012—New College of Florida’s Art Department and Student Government are pleased to present New York-based artist Kymia Nawabi, who will speak on April 18, 2012 at 6:30 pm in the Mildred Sainer Pavilion. Nawabi’s talk will include the development of her studio work and recent achievements including competing in and winning Bravo’s reality TV series Work of Art: The Next Great Artist.
Nawabi, a first-generation Iranian-American artist, earned her MFA from the University of Florida in 2006 and BFA from East Carolina University in 2003. She is the recipient of numerous prestigious residencies and awards including The Keyholder Residency with The Lower East Side Printshop (2012), winner of Bravo’s reality TV series Work of Art: The Next Great Artist (2011), New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Grant and Fellowship in drawing (2009), two-time Swing Space recipient with Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (2009, 2007), Nominee and Fellowship with the Aljira Emerge 10 Program (2008), The Canal Chapter Residency (2007) and The Women’s Studio Workshop Fellowship and Residency (2007).
Nawabi has been a visiting artist and lecturer at East Carolina University’s (ECU) College of Fine Arts (2012, 2009), University of Florida (2012) and Westchester Community College (2010). She has served as a panelist for the NYFA fellowships for printmaking, drawing, and book arts (2012, 2011), and was recently invited to be the commencement speaker for the College of Fine Arts at ECU.
Her works have been showcased in celebrated art institutions, including a solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum (2011-2012) and the Queens Museum International Biennale (2009). Her works can be seen on view in the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Art Library.
Nawabi describes her work as an “allegory of human behavior” which weaves a fantastical personal mythology together with “adopted gods, mythological creatures and burial ceremonies from different cultures.”
Kymia Nawabi lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.