Working in installation, I assemble colorful, mixed-media objects of steel and copper wire, aluminum drinking cans, wood, and fabrics. My goal is to draw connections between the plights of both human and non-human animals and to blur divisions and established hierarchies between these two groups that coinhabit this Earth.

In one installation, twenty-four miniature tents are collaged of aluminum cans and sleek plexiglass grid compositions. In another, an immersive, neighborhood map tapestry marks sites of high-end buildings layered with stripe patterns from my ethnicity as a Yemeni. Another example is a series of passages through long, eye-height, horizontal fabric bands confining audiences to experience border control while celebrating migrant diversity.

I strive to generate expansive discussions on an inequitable social and environmental world order. In my research-guided practice, I focus on relationships between three topics: affordable housing for humans, habitat for non-human animals, and migration experiences of both humans and wildlife.

Bright colors often invite audiences to contemplate layered questions in my installations and sculptures. Contrast between form and content plays a key role: colorful surfaces manifest in stark distinction to the darkness of subject matter. This inconsistency playfully misleads audiences to grapple with unpleasant, uncomfortable social or ecological realities.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

I am a Brooklyn-based, Yemeni-Israeli artist raised in Israel after my early childhood years in Brooklyn. I lived and traveled extensively in Italy, Spain, and South America. My recent works have been colorful, immersive textile, metals, and plant installations engaging with issues of migration, ethnic identity, and housing and gentrification. I had solo exhibitions at FiveMyles and Prospect Park and group shows at Bronx Museum of the Arts, Socrates Sculpture Park, and Summit Public Art, NJ. Trained in art and architecture, I earned a BA in studio art and a Master of Urban Planning from the City College of New York. I was a Bronx Museum AIM Fellow (2022), a Socrates Sculpture Park Emerging Artist Fellow (2018), was selected by Smack Mellon as a Hot Pick (2020), and was a finalist for a permanent public art commission in collaboration with the NYC Departments of Cultural Affairs and Homeless Services (2022). My work was featured in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Public Radio International, BK Reader, and artdaily.com.

Contact

Education

2023 Casa Sueli Carneiro, Brazil. “Reading Brazil”. 3-month virtual course on race, reading Black Brazilian authors in Portuguese
2022 The People’s Forum, NYC. Portuguese 8-week course, advanced 2
2021 Internazionale Magazine, Italy, “In the Editorial Office”, ten-week journalism virtual course
2014 Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Certificate in Horticulture
2013 “The Housing Question”, 4-session seminar on the economics and history of housing in NYC. Brooklyn Commons
2009 City College of New York, CUNY, MUP, Master of Urban Planning, 3.88 GPA
2008 City College of New York, CUNY, BA, Art Studio Specialization and Architectural Studies, Summa cum Laude, 3.89 GPA

Exhibitions/Public Landscape Plantings

2024 Bronx Calling: The Sixth AIM Biennial, Group exhibition, Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY
2023 Entanglement. Earth Day participatory installation in collaboration with two artists for a film series and public engagement event, Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY
2022 Between Flagships, Outdoors group exhibition, Summit Public Art, City of Summit, NJ
2020 The Best is Yet to Come, FiveMyles Exhibition and Performance Space, Curator Hanne Tierney Brooklyn, NY
2019 Condo Conundrum, Curator Hanne Tierney, FiveMyles Exhibition and Performance Space, Brooklyn, NY
2019 Threshold, Curator Maria Carrasco, Brooklyn Public Library with Prospect Park Alliance, Open Air University at Former Rose Garden, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY
2018-19 The Socrates Annual, Socrates Sculpture Park 2018, Curator Jess Wilcox, Socrates Sculpture Park, LIC, Queens, NY
2018 Shrubland Sw(a)elling, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY
2018 Bartel-Pritchard Square Park Entrance Native Flora Planting, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY
2017 Lincoln Road Park Entrance Pollinator Garden, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY
2017 Pergola Park Entrance Greeting Garden, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY

Awards

2022 Finalist. NYC PAIR (Public Artists in Residence) with DCLA (Dept. of Cultural Affairs) and DHS (Dept. of Homeless Services)
2022 Public art funded commission. Summit Public Art, City of Summit, NJ
2022 Artist in the Marketplace (AIM) Fellowship, Bronx Museum of the Arts
2022 Finalist (declined due to enrollment in another program), Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Arts Center Residency, Governor’s Island, NY
2020 Smack Mellon 2020 Hot Picks
2019 The Prospect Park Annual Recognition Award 2018 Emerging Artist Fellowship 2018-2019, Socrates Sculpture Park, LIC, Queens, NY
2016 The Prospect Park Annual Recognition Award 2007 Golden Key International Honor Award
2004 The Mina Shaughnessy Memorial Award for English Composition, City College
2004 Oxford University Press Award for English composition, City College
2004 Certificate of Academic Achievement for Excellence in the Study of Portuguese, City College
2004 Dean’s List
2005 The Downer Language Award for Excellence in the Study of Portuguese, City College
2005 Dean’s List

Reviews, Interviews, Publications, and Media Appearances

2023 Asters and Goldenrods: Ecological Superstars. Gamil, Ronen. Brooklyn Botanic Garden Website
2023 Bloom Alert: Pussy Willows (Video). Brooklyn Botanic Garden Website
2021 9 Essential Shrub and Small Tree Pruning Tips. Aerate.me (2nd article on webpage)
2019 New FiveMyles Installation Explores the Conundrum of Mass Homelessness. Leonhardt, Andrea.  BKReader, August 2019
2019 This Brooklyn Pop-Up School Taps Immigrants’ Expertise– by Making them Teachers. Simone, Alina. Public Radio International, June 2019
2018 Come see Brooklyn artists at Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens, Shlomo Sprung, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 2018
2018 Artist Fellow Ronen Gamil is here speaking with Director of Exhibitions Jess Wilcox about his piece ‘Home(-) and Garden’., Facebook Live on facebook.com/SocratesSculpturePark, November 2018
2018 The Socrates Annual, featuring new work by 16 artists, opens at Socrates Sculpture Park, artdaily.com, October 2018
2017 Cherry Trees in Prospect Park, Prospect Park Alliance, Facebook Live, May 2017
2016 A Greener Lakeside, Prospect Park Alliance, March 2016

Teaching

2020 Horticulture Instructor, Soil Management for Weed Mitigation, NYC Parks Academy, Queens, NY
2018-19, 2022-2023 Horticulture Instructor, Woody Landscape Plant Identification, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, NY
2016, 2017 Horticulture Instructor: 1) Intro. to Horticulture 2) Healthy Trees. GreenThumb, Department of Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn, NY
2009-2012 Early Childhood Art and Elementary Urban Ecologies Teacher, Ambit-Rome International School, Rome, Italy
2007-2009 Teaching Assistant, First Year Architecture Studio, City College of New York, NY