Bio

Aneesa Shami Zizzo (b. 1992, Shawnee, KS) is a fiber artist reflecting on her identity as a second-generation Arab-American, intertwining personal history, world mythologies and the sublime to explore broader narratives of human experience and cultural memory. Through abstraction, she addresses feelings of ruination and the possibility of renewal by using textile industry waste to create soft sculptures, appliqued tapestries and rug weavings. Drawing from a lineage of craftsmen and quiltmakers, Zizzo taps into her subconscious while methodically hand stitching and knotting, considering the process of constructing and reclaiming one’s identity by attending to shared memory. The resulting meditative works reflect the cyclical nature of storytelling tradition, including tales of destruction, recovery, and hope, that comment on the societal systems contributing to waste and neglect, echoing themes of resilience in the face of adversity.

Zizzo holds Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in both Fiber and Art History from the Kansas City Art Institute. She was recently awarded an artist residency at the Arab American National Museum in May 2024, and was a Fellow for the Mildred’s Lane Attention Labs: Order of the Third Bird in 2015. Zizzo’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries and museums, including the Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum in Long Beach, CA, the Craft in America Center in Los Angeles, CA, the Barbican Centre in London, UK, the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, NY, among others.

Contact

Email me at studio(at)aneesashami.com

Studio 203 LLC ATTN Aneesa Zizzo
6820 La Tijera Blvd
STE 201
Los Angeles, CA 90045