Past Residents
Past Resident2023: The Kettering Family Foundation
Levon Kafafian
Levon Kafafian is a Detroit-based Armenian-American artist working primarily with textile. Through weaving Kafafian assembles narrative threads of costume, artifact, ritual and installation into stories about possible worlds and potential futures. Their woven fabrics become portals to these other worlds, generating writing that influences future work. They infuse their stories and cloth with future ancestral practice, hybridity and magic, often collaborating toward collective visions.
Levon Kafafian has exhibited work at Stamps Gallery, University of Michigan; Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit; and Arab American National Museum, all in Michigan, among others.
Events & Exhibitions
2023 Spring Open Studios
April 21–April 22, 2023
Levon Kafafian, The Summoner, 2021, fiber and media, dimensions variable.
Levon Kafafian, The Summoner, 2021, fiber and media, dimensions variable.
Levon Kafafian, Vanagad, the Obsidian Spirit, 2021, fiber and media, dimensions variable.
Levon Kafafian, Once There Was, Once There Wasn't, 2019, fiber and media, installation, dimensions variable.
Levon Kafafian, Rite of Wild Magic, 2020, fiber, 72 × 12 in. (182.88 × 30.48 cm).
Residents from United States
Past Resident2023: The Puffin Foundation, Dimitri Offengenden, Artist Relief
Kahori Kamiya
In her practice, Kahori Kamiya examines her Japanese identity and womanhood, reflecting on issues of racial discrimination and grief while delving into her own experience with topics like maternity, breastfeeding, and the pandemic. Kamiya employs organic shapes, semi-figurative drawings, and crystals in her painted sculptures to allude to traditional Japanese spirituality and its affinity to nature.
Kahori Kamiy has exhibited work at Solo Exhibition at Amos Eno Gallery, Brooklyn; Dumbo Arts Festival, Brooklyn; and the 14th WRO Media Art Biennale, Warsaw, among others.
Events & Exhibitions
2023 Spring Open Studios
April 21–April 22, 2023
Kahori Kamiya, Long Eclipse, 2023, oil paint, metal leaf, foam, resin, feather, fabric and linen, 120 × 72 in. (304.8 × 182.88 cm).
Kahori Kamiya, Blooming Flow, 2022, clay, acrylic, metal leaf, cinder block and amethyst, 23 × 43 × 22 in. (58.42 × 109.22 × 55.88 cm).
Kahori Kamiya, I Have Been Waiting For You, 2023, clay, plaster, acrylic, foam, raisin, fabric, metal leaf and amethyst, 48 × 80 × 52 in. (121.92 × 203.2 × 132.08 cm).
Kahori Kamiya, I Have Been Waiting For You, 2023, clay, plaster, acrylic, foam, raisin, fabric, metal leaf and amethyst, 48 × 80 × 52 in. (121.92 × 203.2 × 132.08 cm).
Installation view of Kahori Kamiya's solo show "Long Eclipse" at Amos Eno Gallery, 2023.
Past Resident2023: Joseph Robert Foundation, Sherrill Collection of American Art Foundation, South Arts
Ruth Owens
Ruth Owens situates the Black subject at the intersection of two relationships. She explores the human-human relationship, focusing on the racially determined relationships between members of the African diaspora and those of northern European origin, as well as the human-environment relationship, particularly the devastating effects of climate change on people with limited resources.
Ruth Owens has exhibited work at Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans; Ackland Art Museum, North Carolina; and Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans, among others.
Ruth Owens, Deep End, 2023, oil on canvas, 48 × 60 in. (121.92 × 152.4 cm).
Ruth Owens, Lucia, 2022, acrylic on paper, 66.
Ruth Owens, Vietnam Opa, study, 2020, casein on paper, 8 × 81/4 in. (20.32 × 20.95 cm).
Ruth Owens, Bianca, study, 2022, acrylic on paper, 8 × 10 in. (20.32 × 25.4 cm).
Ruth Owens, Lessons Lost, 2020, acrylic, mylar, glitter and charcoal on paper , 96 × 96 in. (243.84 × 243.84 cm).