Elizabeth Arzani

Portland, OR

Biography

As a collector of sorts, Elizabeth Arzani’s work is rooted in storytelling, offering a form of communication that extends language. Guided by paradoxes and the homonyms: hole and whole— two words that sound the same but have contradictory meanings when one letter is added or subtracted, Arzani’s material constructions similarly ask to be understood by the context of their environment. Stories are located in the cracks, and creases, stains, and rust of physical objects, layered with her own mark making. Arzani has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC; The Center for Contemporary Art & Culture in Portland, OR; CoCA (Center for Contemporary Art), Seattle, WA; Levine Museum of the New South, Charlotte, NC; City Hall Rotunda Gallery, Rock Hill, SC; and during Luxembourg Art Week in the Salon 2019 du Cercle Artistique de Luxembourg. She has collaborated on public art installations with Shunpike’s Storefronts Project in Seattle and has participated in artist residencies with Kulturschapp in Walferdange, Luxembourg and with New Harmony Clay Project in Indiana. Arzani holds an MFA in Visual Studies from Pacific Northwest College of Art and a BFA in Painting and Art Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She currently lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

www.elizabetharzani.com

@elarzani