Elicia Epstein's (she/they) practice explores the intersections of spiritual and political realities in efforts to move all beings toward collective liberation.

 

Elicia's work is creatively unrestrained, ranging from sculpture and installation, to documentary photography and video, performance, publication and collage. The objects and experiences Elicia creates serve as visual, physical and spiritual interventions. She seeks to engage with the communities around her, question the world’s order, and rewrite the narratives that hold it together.

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Magic, whimsy and "nonsense" are essential to Elicia's life and art practice.

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CV

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b. Wôpanâak (Wampanoag) and Pawtucket Land (Boston, MA), 1992

Most recently based in Oakland, California

Currently nomadic

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EDUCATION

 

2015     BA in Studio Art and Media Studies, Pomona College, Claremont, CA

2013     Documentary Photography and Multimedia Storytelling, Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, Portland, ME

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AWARDS / GRANTS / RESIDENCIES

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2020    Elsewhere Museum Artist Residency

            Greensboro, NC

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2019    Hemera Foundation Contemplative Fellowship

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2019    Filmaker-in-Residence, Selina Film Program

            Oaxaca, Mexico

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2019    Selected artist, Convocatoria Ruta de Galerias, Casa Poligono

            Mexico City, Mexico

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2019    Casa Lu

            Mexico City, Mexico

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2018    Creative Arts Mobility Project (CAMP) Residency

            Northport, Washington

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2018    1st Place Juror Award, 5th Annual Juried Art Exhibition at Piedmont Center for the Arts

            Curated by Carin Adams, Associate Curator, Art and Material Culture, Oakland Museum of California, and Jenny                Gheith, Assistant Curator of Painting and Sculpture, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

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2017    Intern Artist Resident

            Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, Minnesota 

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2015    Filmmaker-In-Residence

            Conservation Media Group, Camden, Maine

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2014    Summer Experience in the Arts Grant

            Mellon Foundation

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2013    Arts Inspiration Grant

            Mellon Foundation       

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PUBLICATION (ABOUT + INCLUDED IN)

 

2018                 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Instagram, Submission Friday

2018                 East Bay Express. Sannidhi Shukla. “Futurescape Spells Project Brings Public Art Installation to Oakland                             Billboards”

2018                 Juxtapoz Magazine Online. Four Artists Take Over Oakland Billboards For the “Futurescape Spells                                       Projects”

2018                 East Bay Times. Sarah Tan. “Emerging artists honored at fifth annual Juried Art Show in Piedmont”

2017                 Strant Magazine Online. “Pictures Without Words”

2016                 Rûm Magazine, Issue I         

2014                 Landlocked Photo.  “Creatures of Habit” Photobook. Part of the Indie Photobook Library at the Yale                                     University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

2014                 The American Guide. “Rural Life” Photobook                                

 

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PUBLICATION (AUTHORED)

 

2016                 Juxtapoz Magazine, Issue 190 (2016): 18-20. “Bruce Conner Comes Home.”

2016                 Juxtapoz Magazine Online “Michael Parker’s Steam Work – Interview.” 2015                                    

2014                 Proximity Magazine Online. “Life of a Liveaboard" photo essay

2014                 Bokeh Magazine Online. “The Courts at Portland’s Projects” photo essay                

2014                 The American Guide Online. “Witchcraft – Maine” photo essay

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FILM          

 

2020    Director / Editor / Producer

            “Rulebreakers: The shepherd and the settler” (3 mins)

            BBC World Service, with funding from the Sundance Institute

            Viewable at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08t23vt

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2018    Assistant Director

            “Waking Hour” (13 mins), directed by Nava Mau and produced by Chloe Webster

Screened at: Youthmundus Festival (Rome, Italy), Trans Stellar Film Festival (Detroit, MI), QFilm Festival (Long Beach, CA), Visible Festival de Cine (Panama City, Panama), North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (Durham, NC), QFest: Houston International LGBTQ Film Festival (Houston, TX), Encuentro: Reconstructing Our Health (Atlanta, GA), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco, CA), Hella Gay Short Film Fest (Oakland, CA), Queer Women of Color Film Festival (San Francisco, CA), Inside Out Film Festival (Toronto, ON), Translations: Seattle Transgender Film Festival (Seattle, WA), Reel Out (Charlotte, NC), Outfest Fusion (Los Angeles, CA)

           

2016     Director / Editor / Producer

“Tracing the Pass” Documentary (25 mins / 49 mins Director’s Cut)

 Conservation Media Group  

 Viewable at: https://www.conservationmediagroup.org/grantee/elicia-epstein-tracing-pass

 Screened at: Tillotson Center for the Arts (Colebrook, NH), Colonial Theatre (Bethlehem, NH), Society for the  Protection of   New Hampshire Forests (Concord, NH)

                             

2013     Director / Editor / Producer

            “The Coven” (4 mins)

 The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

 Viewable at: https://vimeo.com/81904238

 Screened at: The Salt Institute (Portland, ME)

 

 

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SOLO + 2-PERSON EXHIBITION

 

2019     Moving Still, Elicia Epstein and Cathy Abitbol, Kino at Cine Tonala, Mexico City, Mexico (curated by Gonzalo de                   Benito and Julia Ruiz-Cabello)

 

2018    Roller Coast, a solo show, Adelines Lab Gallery, Berkeley, CA

 

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SELECTED EXHIBITION

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2021    Hella Feminist: An Exhibition, Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA

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2019    Ruta de Galerias Gallery Walk, Casa Poligono, Mexico City, Mexico

 

2019    Primera Lectura, Casa Lu Parque Hundido Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico

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2018    Orium II, Aggregate Space Gallery, Oakland, CA

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2018    Under the Surface, Adelines Lab, Berkeley, CA

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2018    Room for Thought with Pacific Rim Sculptors, Space 151, San Francisco, CA (curated by Jack Fischer of the Jack              Fischer Gallery)

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2018    Left Coast Annual, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA (curated by Claudia Schmuckli, Curator-in-Charge,                              Contemporary Art and Programming, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)

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2017    5th Annual Juried Art Show, Piedmont Center for the Arts, Piedmont, CA (curated by Carin Adams, Associate                     Curator, Art and Material Culture, Oakland Museum of California, and Jenny Gheith, Assistant Curator of Painting                and Sculpture, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art)

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2017    Year of the Dog, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA (curated by Amy Owens and Kara Smith of the                  DiRosa Museum in Napa, CA)

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2017    Steel sculpture "Rumble Tumble Yonder Bumble" on view at Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN

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2015    Looking at Appalachia, ongoing online photography exhibition (curated by Roger May)

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2015    Scantron, Chan Gallery, Claremont, CA

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2015    Trilateral Arts Show, dA Center for the Arts, Pomona, CA     

                           

2015    Inland (co-curator), Chan Gallery, Claremont, CA     

                                     

2015    Picture Books, Duke University Power Plant Gallery, Durham, NC                                                                   

 

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