Artist Profile
Daniela Puliti
Daniela Puliti studied painting at Montclair State University (BFA, 2011) and The Savannah College of Art and Design (MFA, 2015). Puliti manipulates craft-based materials with an intuitive painter's sensibility; creating installations, paintings, and mixed media works about gender, sexuality, vulnerability, and mental illness. She identifies as a gender-questioning femme, forever evaluating the shifting ideals around intersectional feminism within structural misogyny. Puliti has participated in short term residencies at The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (NYC), Vermont Studio Center, The Wassaic Project, ChaNorth and a forthcoming residency at Millay Arts (August 2022). Puliti is an alumna of the A.I.R. Gallery Fellowship Program in Brooklyn, NY (2017-2018), which granted her first solo exhibition in NYC in February 2018. Her most recent solo exhibition, "There were no casseroles...", focused on the grieving process after the death of her partner. In 2021, Daniela Puliti was awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship from the New Jersey Council on the Arts.
CV
EDUCATION
2015 Master of Fine Arts, Painting, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Savannah, GA
2011 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 There Were No Casseroles..., ChaShaMa, New York, NY
2021 There Were No Casseroles..., Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT
2018 What the Lips Can’t Say, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2015 Just the Tip of the Iceberg, Non-Fiction Gallery, Savannah, GA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 Supernatural, Gutstein Gallery, Savannah, GA
2022 Engendered curated by Neil Daigle Orians, Marketview Arts, York, PA
2022 Fibers 2022, CCSU Art Gallery, New Britain, CT
2022 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship Exhibition, Artworks, Trenton, NJ
2021 Unraveled: Confronting the Fabric of Fiber, The Untitled Space, New York, NY
2020 Seasonal Repression, Field Projects, New York, NY
2020 Online Exhibition: Reclaiming, Reimagining, Field Projects, New York, NY
2020 Now, more than ever, The Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY
2019 INDEX: An Immigrant Artist Showcase, Index Art Center, Newark, NJ
2019 Between Wisdom and Madness: Works in Sculpture curated by Agnes Deja and Sarah Walko, Index Art Center, Newark, NJ
2017 Haphazard Paradigm curated by Melvin Harper and Wardell Milan, Re: Art Show, Brooklyn, NY
2016 Three Witches curated by Ashli Sisk, Freddy’s Bar and Backroom, Brooklyn, NY
2016 SCAD Alumni Showcase, Alexander Hall Gallery, Savannah, GA
2016 Make Me Feel Like a Woman curated by Wardell Milan, The Long Gallery Harlem, New York, NY
2016 Stages of Kingdom and Exile, Artspace, New Haven, CT
2016 All Your Wide Futures curated by Jasmine Wahi, Rebecca Jampol and Reya Seghal, Project for Empty Space, Newark, NJ
2014 DeFine Art Festival, Alexander Hall, Savannah, GA
2014 Faux/Real, Non-Fiction Gallery, Savannah, GA
2013 Curious Deviations, Non-Fiction Gallery, Savannah, GA
2013 Dimensions: An Exhibition of 2D, 3D, and 4D Works, 39th & Bull Project Space, Savannah, GA
2013 DeFine Art Festival, Alexander Hall, Savannah, GA
2012 NOWHERE presented by Oculus Art Collaborative, The Meatlocker, Montclair, NJ
2011 Montclair State University BFA Show, The George Segal Gallery, Montclair, NJ
2010 Dreamgaze, The Barat Foundation Gallery, Newark, NJ
2010 Hexes, 4th & Jackson Art Space, Hoboken, NJ
2010 Digable Arts Festival, Monroe Center for the Arts, Hoboken, NJ
PUBLIC ART/PERFORMANCE
2019 “Welcome Quilt” Sidewalk Mural, Treat Place in Newark, NJ, organized by Four Corners Public Arts, Newark, NJ
2018 We Vote Parade organized by Michele Pred and Yvette Molina, New York, NY
2017 No Means No (Performance Protest) organized by Jasmine Wahi, The Bowery Mural, New York, NY
2010 Montclair Mural Project organized by Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
AWARDS/FELLOWSHIPS
2021 Interdisciplinary Arts Fellowship, New Jersey State Council on the Arts
2020 Newark Accelerator Grant, made possible by the Andy Warhol Foundation
2018 Creative Capital Professional Development Program, New Jersey
2017-2018 A.I. R. Fellowship, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2013 SCAD Honors Graduate Scholarship, Savannah, GA
2011 Excellence in Painting, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
RESIDENCIES
2022 Artist in Residence, Millay Arts, Austerlitz, NY, August 2022
2020 Artist in Residence, ChaNorth, Pine Plains, NY, September 2020
2019 Artist in Residence, The Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY, October 2019
2018 Artist in Residence, The Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, August 2018
2015 Artist in Residence, The Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, October 2015
2015 SCAD Winter Artist in Residence, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY
ARTIST LECTURES/PRESENTATIONS/WORKSHOPS
2021 Virtual Artist Talk, There were no casseroles…, in conjunction with Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT
2021 Virtual Artist Talk, in conversation with Carolina Wheat-Nielsen from Artfare
2019 Artist Mentor, NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program, Newark, NJ
2018 Visiting Artist, Soft Sculpture, Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA, October 2018
2018 Teaching Artist, Coping Through Craft: An introduction to crochet as one method of emotional survival, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, February 2018
2017 Visiting Artist, Soft Sculpture, Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA, September 2017
2017 Teaching Artist, Essential Yarn Craft, Project for Empty Space, Newark, NJ
2016 Panel Discussion, Make Me Feel Like a Woman, The Long Gallery, New York, NY
2016 Visual Arts Facilitator, Summer Apprenticeship Program, Artspace, New Haven, CT
2016 Artist Talk, All Your Wide Futures, Project for Empty Space, Newark, NJ
2011 Co-Presenter, Montclair State University Student Research Symposium, Art & Outreach, Montclair, NJ, April 2011
SELECTED PRESS
2020 Kiefer, Eric. “Murals Infuse Newark Historic District With Hope, Positivity.” New Jersey Patch, 3 January 2020
2018 Cascone, Sarah. “Meet 12 Fierce Feminist Artists Who Marched in a Get Out the Vote Parade Ahead of Today’s Midterm Elections.”Artnet News, 6 November 2018
2017 Tcholakian, Danielle. “Artists Protest Sexual Violence and David Choe’s Bowery Mural.” Hyperallergic, 19 June 2017
2016 Awachie, Ifeanyi. “Students Make Artspace Their “Kingdom.” New Haven Independent, 4 August 2016
Artist Statement
I create Feminist, craft-based, mixed media paintings and installations that explore gender, sexuality, vulnerability, body image, and mental health through color, pattern, and humor.
In my installation work, I seek to create soft walls that act as an emotional divider while beckoning a closeness and desire of touch. A recurring motif in my work is of a central hole in my tapestries. This hole is meant to operate on multiple levels as a glory hole or peep hole, as a mouth, as a vagina, and/or as a portal for energy to pass through. In the beginning of my exploration, these hangings were very densely woven with a small hole in the middle. Over time as I incorporated a variety of weaving techniques (crochet, needle-tatting, knitting) and patterns, these works became more and more lacy and open. I attribute this as a metaphor for emotional openness and willingness to be vulnerable.
The painted pieces comprise a collage of fabrics, acrylic paint, glitter, and other craft ephemera challenging the hierarchical Western notions of painting. The inspiration of these works are at the cross section of the classic Feminist short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" and the 1999 film "But I'm a Cheerleader". The illusionistic space within these mixed media pieces explore a psychological undercurrent at the same time excavate and unearth trauma to the surface.
The bridge between these two modalities is the idea of soft, emotional walls both as defense mechanisms and protective boundaries.