Art Alumna, Colleen Itani Attends Project 1612 Residency

FSU Art MFA ’19 Colleen Itani was the artist-in-residence in October 2022 at Project 1612, an independent artist-run project and short-term residency located in Morton, Illinois.

Colleen Itani (she/her) maintains an interdisciplinary practice that “explores domestic architecture through an abstracted lens.” She is inspired by everyday structures like row houses, semi-detached homes, and flats and states that, “the timelines of these sites situate themselves along histories of those who have lived within and around them. The architectural forms allow me to use inanimate structures as stand-ins for the body and human relations.” She reflects on spaces close to home in Philadelphia and also structures from her familial past in Beirut, Lebanon, “investigating my present location alongside my heritage.” Through an initial process of intuitive drawing by considering physical and emotional exchanges, Itani’s work “takes on a new form by involving printmaking and photography, resulting in work that plays with scale, temporality and multiplicity.” By abstracting environments, she encourages viewers to visit the world around them through a new lens.

Itani lives and works in Philadelphia, PA. She has exhibited at galleries across the U.S., including New York, California, Florida, and Georgia. She completed a residency at Vermont Studio Center in 2019, is currently a member at Black Hound Clay Studio, and is a Master Gardener. Itani received her BFA in Studio Art and BA in International Studies from The University of Tampa and her MFA from Florida State University.