AUSTIN BALLARD

Lives and works in Ridgewood, NY
(b. 1987)

Born in Charlotte, NC, Ballard received an MFA in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design and a BFA from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, where he also served as an Assistant Professor in Textiles. Ballard has received numerous awards including a Joan Mitchell Foundation Scholarship, a Windgate Foundation Fellowship, a Kenneth Stubbs Endowed Fellowship, a Peter S. Reed Foundation Grant, the Chenven Foundation Grant and the Rhode Island School of Design Graduate Studies Grant. He has been awarded full fellowships to the Museum of Arts and Design, Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Ox-Bow School of Art, the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, Vermont Studio Center, Wassaic Project, and the McColl Center for Art + Innovation. Ballard has been featured in Maake Magazine, Art Maze Magazine, Wall Street International and Wide Walls. Ballard has held solo exhibitions at Smack Mellon, NY, Wave Hill, NY, Napoleon, PA, Real Art Ways, CT, and Ithaca College among others. Upcoming shows include Mckenzie Fine Art in New York, NY and Whitespace in Atlanta, GA.

NADIA HAJI OMAR

Lives and works in Rhode Island
(b. 1985)

Nadia Haji Omar is an artist who explores issues related to the human mind, body and environment. She often combines the practices of painting, drawing, and photography. Her work investigates and visually addresses the philosophical and physiological challenges of the human condition. Haji Omar is of Syrian, Indian, and Sri Lankan descent. Haji Omar received a MFA from the School of Visual Arts in 2014 and a BA from Bard College.  Her works have been discussed in New York Magazine/Vulture, and Hyperallergic, among other publications, and are included in the collections of the RISD Museum, Providence, RI, and the Hallmark Art Collection, Kansas City, MO, among others.

KRISTEN LORELLO, Moderator

Kristen Lorello is the owner of Kristen Lorello, a contemporary art gallery located on East 73rd in Manhattan.  Prior to opening the gallery in 2014, Kristen developed her career at Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, where she held various roles, including Director of Operations, Associate Director, and Archivist.  She also helped start GVD’s subsidiary gallery Eleven Rivington during its inaugural year. Kristen graduated from Barnard College summa cum laude, phi beta kappa in 2004.  She was a Fulbright Fellow to Italy in 2006 and holds an MA in the History of Art from Hunter College. Photo by Scott Alario.