RESUME

BIO

Born and raised in Kolkata, India, Aaliyah comes from a long line of spirited, rule-breaking women who pursued their passions despite the odds. Her most recent works explore cartography, memory and place. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, lived in New York and Copenhagen and is now rooted in Seattle and part of the Equinox Studios community. 

Aaliyah has been awarded artist residencies at Ucross Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, Jentel Foundation and Willapa Bay AIR. Recent exhibitions include Site/Non-Site at Shift Gallery, Brand51 at Brand Library & Arts Center, NEXT 2022 at PrintMatters, Houston; EKS-Rummet in Copenhagen; Site: Brooklyn Gallery; Bellevue Arts Museum; ARTS at King Street Station, Museum of History & Industry and Core Gallery in Seattle. 

In addition to her studio practice, she was actively involved in advocating for immigrant rights and was the founding executive director of Chaya, an organization serving South Asian survivors of domestic violence.

CV 

b 1964 Kolkata, India

live and work in Seattle, WA 

Education

1990       Master of Fine Arts, Painting, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York

1986       Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting (cum laude), Wesleyan College, Macon, Georgia 

Solo Exhibitions

2019       Tópos, Core Gallery, Seattle, WA

2017        Target, Core Gallery, Seattle, WA

2016       Flight, Storefronts Project Installation, Seattle, WA                                                         

2016       New Works, Core Gallery, Seattle, WA

2015        from here to there, Core Gallery, Seattle, WA

2014       Vortex, Core Gallery, Seattle, WA

2013        SeaSky, Core Gallery, Seattle, WA

2013        Weather, Storefronts Project Installation, Seattle, WA

2012       New Works, Core Gallery, Seattle, WA

2011        Confluence, Core Gallery, Seattle, WA

2008       Pods & Clusters, Corridor Gallery, Toshiro Kaplan Building, Seattle, WA

2008       Aaina, South Asian Women’s Arts Focus, Central Cinema, Seattle, WA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024      Site/Non-Site, Shift Gallery, Seattle, WA

2024      Diverse Expressions, Asian Pacific Cultural Center, Tacoma, WA

2024       Celebrating API Heritage Month, City of Bellevue, Bellevue, WA

2023       Brand 51 Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, Brand Art Center, Glendale, CA

2023       Inscape Outside, Inscape Arts, Seattle, WA

2022       NEXT 2022, Juror - Paola Morsiani, PrintMatters Houston, TX

2022       Willapa Bay AIR Alumni Exhibition, Lakeshore, Seattle, WA

2020       Mapping Truths, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA

2019       Log, BallardWorks, Seattle, WA

2019       A Bright Future: To be heard. To be seen. To be free, ARTS at King Street Station, Seattle, WA

2019       Plastik, Eks-rummet, Copenhagen, Denmark

2019       Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape The Nation, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle, WA

2019       Kent Summer Art Exhibit, Centennial Center Gallery, Kent, WA

2018       Landscape: Real and Imagined, Site: Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2018       Layers, Sammamish City Hall, Sammamish, WA

2018       2018 Members Show: Creativity Persists, Juror- Jodi Bento, CoCA, Seattle, WA 2016             

2016       Elysian 20th Anniversary Festival, Seattle Center, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA

2015        Interstate, Where I-90 meets I-82, Juror-Jennifer Milliken, Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Ellensburg, WA

2015        Intersections, RedLine’s Second Annual Juried Exhibition, Denver, CO

2015        Ley Lines: Connecting Media, Imagery and Concept Across Contemporary Drawing, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL

2015        West Coast Biennial, Juror - Bonnie Laing-Malcolmson, Turtle Bay Art Gallery, Redding, CA

2015        Crave, Jurors- Trimpin, Stefano Catalani, Columbia City Gallery, Seattle, WA

2013        2013 Wheaton Biennial, Juror- Judith Tannenbaum, Wheaton College, Norton, MA

2013        Erasing Borders Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora 2013, Indo-American Arts Council, New York, 

2013        Group Show, Lynwood Convention Center, Lynwood, WA

2013        No Limits, 8th Annual Juried Exhibit, Jurors- Juan Alonso-Rodriguez, Randy Engstrom and Yoko Ott, Columbia City Gallery, Seattle, WA

2012       2012 CoCA Annual, juried by M.K. Guth, CoCA Georgetown Gallery, Seattle, WA

2012       Walk the Line, Juror- June Sekiguchi, Ida Culver House, Seattle, WA

2011        Erasing Borders Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora 2011, Indo-American Arts Council, NY; Queens Museum of Art NY; Charles B. Wang Center Stony Brook University; Aicon Gallery NY; Jorgensen Gallery University of Connecticut.

2011        The Sketchbook Project, Art House Co-op, New York, Brooklyn NY, Portland ME, Washington DC, Winter Park FL, San Francisco CA, Seattle WA, Chicago IL, Austin TX, Atlanta GA

2011        Aaina, South Asian Women’s Arts Focus, Seattle Asian Arts Museum, Seattle WA

2010       Unwrapped, Columbia City Gallery, Seattle, WA

2010       10 x10 x 10 x Tieton, Mighty Tieton, Tieton, WA  

2010       NEPO 3: Air, Water, Fire (We will leave Earth behind), Seattle, WA

2007       Artist Auditions II Semi-Finalist Exhibition, Brian Marki Fine Art, Portland, OR

2007       Emergence, Hugo Gallery, Richard Hugo House, Seattle, WA

Residencies & Awards

2020       Jentel Artist Residency (could not attend due to pandemic)

2019       Willapa Bay AiR

2018       Ucross Foundation Residency

2015       Vermont Studio Center Residency

2010       Stand for Justice Special Recognition Award

2008       Northwest Asian Weekly Top Contributor Award 

Projects & Commissions

2016       from here to there, site specific installation at Facebook Seattle, 1100 Dexter, Seattle, WA

2006       Mosaic Sign Project, Artist in Residence, Kimball Elementary School, Seattle, WA

2006       Tryptich, commission for I.P. Callison & Sons, Seattle, WA

2005       Snakes and Ladders, commission for Seattle Asian Art Museum, Seattle, WA

Corporate & Public Collections

City of Bellevue Art Collection, Bellevue, WA

I.P. Callison & Sons, Seattle, WA

Danish Post and Telegraph, Copenhagen, Denmark

Bonnier Publications, Copenhagen, Denmark

Œstasiatisk Kompani, Copenhagen, Denmark

European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, Denmark

State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY

Publications & Articles

2018       Postcards from the New World, Shankar Narayan

2017        Open Form: Facebook Artists in Residence 2012-2017, Analog Research Laboratory

2013        2012 Annual, Exhibition catalog, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle

2013        Reiner, Claire, www.vanguardseattle.com/2013/06/25/pioneer-square-art-walk-june-2013/

2011        Courageous Creativity: February 2011, Zine, Shahana Dattagupta & Shirin Subhani (ed.)

2010       10x10x10xTieton 2010, Exhibition catalog, Marquand Editions

1995       Dansk Kunst 94 (Danish Art ’94), Weirup, Torben (ed.), Søren Fogtal A/S

1994       Askov, “Indisk Kunstner ...” (Indian Artist Shows at Kulturloftet), Stevns Dagbladet,

1994       Canute, “Fascinerende Islandsk Natur” (Fascinating Islandic Landscapes), Stevns Bladet

1994       Dannemand, Henrik, “Island Set ...” (Iceland Seen with Indian Eyes), Berlingske Tidende,

1994       Henriksen, Bjørn, “Hypnotiseret af Vulkaner” (Hypnotized by Volcanos), Vesterbrobladet

1994       Jen, “Smuk og Vild ...” (Beautiful and Wild Landscapes at Kulturloftet),  Stevns Bladet,

1994       Jensen, Iben Friis, “Forbindelsen til...” (The Connection to the Fantastic), Fyn Amts Avis

Selected Community Service

Seattle Peoples Fund, Board Member, 2017-Present

Wing Luke Asian Museum, Community Advisory Committee, 2013

Wing Luke Asian Museum, Tsutakawa Gallery Advisory Committee, 2008- 2011

API Chaya (formerly Chaya), Board Member, 2005-2012

OneAmerica (formerly Hate Free Zone), Board Member, 2003-2005, 2006 -2008