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IRJA BODÉN (b. Sweden) received a BFA in painting from SUNY Potsdam, magna cum laude, and a BA in Social Science from Lund University, Sweden.
Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in the US and abroad, including The Samuel Dorsky Museum, New Paltz, NY; Woodstock Artist Association & Museum, Woodstock, NY; Amos Eno Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; The Immigrant Artist Biennial 2020; Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT; LABspace, Hillsdale, NY; and Konstmuseet i Norr, Kiruna, Sweden. Bodén has been awarded residencies, grants and fellowships; Byrdcliffe Artist Residency, Woodstock, NY (2022); Mass MoCA Residency Studios (2021); The Berkshire Taconic Foundation (2021); Vermont Studio Center (2017, 2018); and Public Art Fellowship from NYSCA (2017.)
In 2022 her ceramics will be featured by the River Valley Arts Collective at The Al Held Foundation, ART + NATURE + HOME ‘22: Upstate Diary, and the Courthouse Gallery, Lake George, NY.
Bodén lives and works in Ghent, NY.
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STATEMENT
Transforming the malleable into the permanent is a process that echoes our lives. We all begin as potential, reflecting what we see. My process in sculpture alludes to this process.
I frequently use stacking as a means of spatial arrangement. My ceramics have textured surfaces, and I work with various marking methods through surface treatment of raw clay and glazes, to build work that resemble and incorporate personal iconography, terrain, and memory. These patterns and forms unite other layers to reference time, nature, and domestic interiors. I pack forms inside them with an assemblage aesthetic as a gathering of objects, some broken, some worn, some mistaken, and some perfectly fine.
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SELECTED SOLO
2022 Irja Bodén: Ceramics, River Valley Arts Collective at the Al Held Foundation. (fortcoming)
2022 Ceramics & Collage, 2-person Exhibit, Courthouse Gallery, Lake George, NY (forthcoming)
2021 Irja Bodén: Untitled (Blah, blah, blah), Smallbany Gallery, Albany, NY
2021 Irja Bodén: Fractured Light, Amos Eno Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2021 Irja Bodén: Virtual Solo, Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
2017 Interwoven, Two-person Exhibit, Roxbury Arts Group: Walt Meade Gallery, Roxbury, NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 On The Grounds 2022, River Valley Arts Collective at the Al Held Foundation.
2022 ART + NATURE + HOME ‘22, Upstate Diary.
2021 HOLIDAY, LABspace, Hillsdale, NY
2021 Bushwick Open Studios, Amos Eno Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2021 Radius 5o, Woodstock Artists Association & Museum (WAAM), NY
2021 Embody, Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
2020 The Immigrant Artist Biennial, Here Together! (The Imminent Arrival) NYC/online
2020 New Folk: Hudson Valley Artists, The Samuel Dorsky Museum, SUNY New Paltz
2020 The Longest Distance, Three-person Exhibit, Amos Eno Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2019 En Vacker Utställning, Konstmuseet i Norr, Kiruna, Sweden
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Fine Arts, visual arts, magna cum laude, SUNY Potsdam, NY
Bachelor of Arts, social science, Lund University, Sweden
RESIDENCIES - AWARDS - PUBLICATIONS
2022 Byrdcliffe Artist Residency, Woodstock, NY (fortcoming)
2021 MASS MoCA, Studios at MASS MoCA Residency, North Adams, MA
2021 Artist Resource Trust (A.R.T.) Fund, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
2021 Interview in Ever Emerging Magazine
2020 The Immigrant Artist Biennial, Catalogue, and Award
2020 Ever.Emerging Magazine. First Issue, women 45+
2018, 2017 Vermont Studio Center, Residency and Artist’s Grant, Johnson, VT
2017 Public Art Fellowship, New York State Council of the Arts, NY
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Contact Irja Bodén at ibartstudio17 [@] gmail
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