Mitra Fabian is a sculptor and installation artist working with atypical materials such as tape, glue, various office and scientific products, and even window blinds.  As she builds with these materials, she deconstructs them or alters them in such a way that they are not immediately recognizable.  The reconstruction is in some way determined by what the material is capable of doing, but not meant to do.  The new physical form is always more organic, often mimicking the appearance of tumors, magnified cells, or mold.  These materials often perform as a skin – their translucency captures light and plays tricks on the eye- breathing, swaying, or slowly and quietly growing.  Fabian uses exclusively manufactured materials thereby transforming the artificial, throwaway product into something seemingly natural.  This serves as a commentary on the increasingly modified condition of humans, which pits nature against culture and blurs the line between organic and manufactured.

Mitra Fabian was born in Iran and raised in Boston.  She received a BA in Art with an Anthropology minor from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.  She located to Los Angeles in 1996 and began to show her work both locally and nationally.  She returned to school in 2002 to receive an MFA from California State University, Northridge.  As of May 2005, she has located to the Bay Area.  Fabian has been showing her work nationally since 1997, and had a solo show at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art in 2007.  Her work has also been featured in shows the Museum of Contemporary Craft, the Laguna Art Museum, and the Armory Center for the Arts.  She has also shown with prominent galleries in Los Angeles and San Francisco.  In the summer of 2009, she was an artist in residence at Bemis in Omaha, NE.  Her work has been reviewed by several media organizations including Spark, KQED Television, Ruby Mag, an online Argentinean art magazine, Angeleno Magazine, and Artweek. She is also a professor at Sacramento City College teaching sculpture and drawing.

Solo & Partner Exhibitions

2008
Accumulations, Kondos Gallery, Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA
2007
Propagation, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
Disproportionate Priorities, Bandini Art, Los Angeles, CA
2005
Room for Recovery, MFA Thesis Show, California State University, Northridge, CA
2004
Surface Treatment, Gallery 825, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA
2003
Mind Becomes Matter, Four Doors Gallery, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, CA
1998
Lain Bare, Impromptu Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2010
Flatlanders III, Nelson Gallery, Davis, CA
Summer in the City, JayJay, Sacramento, CA
Groundswell, Kala, Oakland, CA
Installation, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
Monotype Marathon, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA

2009
Manufractured: Repurposed Products & Reformed Archetypes, Natalie & James
Thompson Art Gallery, San Jose, CA
Sculpture Invitational, Sacramento State University, Sacramento, CA
Sweetness, Moorpark College Gallery, Moorpark, CA
Auction 100, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA

2008
Manufractured, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR
East of the West, SomArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
Pink Week Art Show, Tangent Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Manmade, East Gallery, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA

2007
Don’t Fence Me In, Bandini Art, Culver City, CA
Summer Selections, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
3D Outreach Show – Sculpture Invitational, Robert Else Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Winter Group Show I, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA

2006
Spring Installation, Phantom Galleries, San Jose, CA
Materialism, Don Soker Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Out of This World, Limn Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2005
All California, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
Beyond Plastic, Limn Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2004
Open Show, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA Juror:  James Elaine
Rustic & Urbane, East Gallery, Claremont University, Claremont, CA
Open Call LA, Barnsdall Municipal Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Northwest Territories, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
X1, Transport Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
50/50, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
Repeat, Transport Gallery, Los Angeles,   CA Curator:  Joseph Davidson

2003
Petite Works, Gallery 825, Bergamot Annex, Santa Monica, CA
On Site, Angel’s Gate Gallery, San Pedro, CA  Juror: Jay Belloli

2002
Showstoppers, Long Beach Arts, Long Beach, CA Juror: Ashley Emenegger
Freedom of Expression, Lankershim Art Gallery, North Hollywood, CA
Tiny Works, Gallery Ophelia, Eagle Rock, CA

2001
4th Annual Hollywood Art Crawl, Metal Maddness Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
National Juried Art Competition, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA
Juror:  Maxwell L. Anderson

2000
New Art Y2K, Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA,  July 2000

1999
Summer Showcase, Limner Gallery, New York, NY,  August 2000

1997
Celebrating the World Through Art, The Somerville Museum, Somerville, MA

1996
Places Between, Thesis Show, Olin Gallery, Gambier, OH

Education
California State University, Northridge
M.F.A. 2005, Sculpture
Kenyon College
B.A. 1996, Art major, Anthropology minor

Awards & Residencies
Bemis Center Residency, Omaha, NE, Summer 2009
Nominee for 2006 SECA Award
Artist in Residency, Works/San Jose, Fall 2005
Graduate Studies Thesis Grant, 2004
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Member 2004
Arts Council Scholarship, CSUN, incoming M.F.A.  2002
Peterson Printmaking Award, Kenyon College, 1996

Concentric - a solo show at Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA March 3 – April 16, 2012 
http://donsokergallery.com/

The Office  - a group show with artists who examine, deconstruct, rearrange, and critique contemporary office culture.

San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA March 10 – June 2, 2012 
http://www.sjica.org/exhibitions_and_programs.html