Daniela Puliti

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.

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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.