BIO / CV
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Photo by Lissa Gotwals, first published in Art of The State: Celebrating the Visual Art of North Carolina, published by UNC Press, 2022
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Mariam Aziza Stephan (b.1972) is a first generation Afghan-German American painter using landscape to explore themes of loss. Landscapes reflect what we value or squander, they can embody states of psychological, political, and environmental upheaval. Stephan's landscapes do not represent a single place rather an aggregate of sites of upheaval, destruction, no-go zones.
" I use landscape and abstraction as metaphors of deracination tied to both involuntary and voluntary migration, disempowerment, and social and environmental degradation. Just as in Francisco Goya’s “Disasters of War” etchings, it is not the war that is so unsettling but rather the visible effects on the flesh and the manifest inner psyche of individuals. I attempt to individualize the landscape as portraits carrying the scars of their histories in haunting and stark images. My paintings explore a tension between the recognition and formlessness of images. Being able to name particular images as metonymies of destruction creates landmarks that are not only geographical references but also biographical and personal scars. As a counterpoint to recognizable imagery, the physicality of the paint in rhythmic marks and spatial shifts visualizes sounds of mourning: clawing, screeching, howling, whimpering. My work interlaces our bodies with the Earth as inseparable fates and our treatment of each as parallel narratives." Stephan received awards including the 2018 North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship, a 2010-11 Fulbright Scholar to Egypt, and currently serves as Professor in Painting at UNC Greensboro. She lives in Greensboro, NC. |
Solo Exhibitions
2025 A Montage That Tells a Truth in This Bound Flesh: An Ongoing Conversation: Drawings by Mariam Aziza Stephan and Poems by Julia Johnson, Greensboro Project Space, NC
2021 Extraction: Art on the Edge of the Abyss, Exhibit D: Aftermath, No. 3 Reading Room and Photo Book Works, Beacon, NY
2019 Exit North, El Horreya Center for Creativity, Alexandria, Egypt
Hatched in the Drift, Collaborative project with Poet Julia Johnson, No.3 Reading Room and Photo Book Works, Beacon, NY
Seasons for Ibrahim, Public Video Art Installation, Block2, Raleigh
In the arches, we cave, Artspace, Raleigh, NC
2018 In the Middle of Far Away, Henry Zarrow Art Center, Tulsa OK
The World and Other Worlds, Greensboro Project Space, NC
2017 Swing Shift, Barrister’s Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Mariam Stephan: Paintings and Drawings, Hastings Gallery, Sandhills Community College, NC
2015 Shifting Undercurrents, Kamal Khalifa Gallery, Gezira Art Center, Cairo, Egypt
Aftermath, KNOX Gallery, Monterey Library, Monterey, MA
2013 Boat / Scape, Project Room, The Painting Center, NYC
2009 Paintings, Elon University Gallery, Elon, NC
Convening In-Between, Eichold Gallery, Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL
2005 Paintings, Olin Gallery, Roanoke College, Salem VA
2004 Paintings, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Group Exhibitions
2025. Interleavings, Interval, Winston-Salem, NC (three-person show)
Weather, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2022 GBA Art Cities House Party Exhibition, Arts Council of Winston Salem, NC
2020 Escapes and Revelations: 2018-19 NC Artist Fellows, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art -SECCA, Winston-Salem, NC
2017 A Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA
Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2012 Today’s Visual Language: Southern Abstraction, A Fresh Look, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile AL
Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2011 2010 International Ceramic Symposium Exhibition, Fustat Art Center, Cairo, Egypt
2010 Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2009 UNCG Faculty Exhibition, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
Paradigms, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis MN
2008 Color Key, The Painting Center, curated by Patrick Webb, NYC, NY
Pierogi 2000, Flat Files, Brooklyn, NY (ongoing inclusion)
War, Madness, and Delusion, Andover Newton Theological School
Newton Centre, MA, curated by W. James Herbert
Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2007 Bowery Gallery Juried Show, Juror: John Walker, New York, NY
Equivalents, San Francisco Studio School 1st Annual National Juried
Competition, San Francisco, CA
Wish You Were Here: work by Ox-bow Artists in Residence, Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, MI
2006 Pinch Hitters, SPACE, Pittsburgh PA
Art on Paper Biennial, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2005 Abstraction Obstruction: Working the Meridians, SOIL Gallery, Seattle WA
2004 Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
Collections
Raleigh Municipal Art Collection, North Carolina
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
Egyptian Ministry of Culture, Cairo, Egypt
Grants / Awards
2024. Dean’s Research/ Creative Initiative Award, College of Visual and Performing Arts, UNC Greensboro
2018 North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship
Kohler International Travel Award, UNC Greensboro
Dean’s Research/ Creative Initiative Award, College of Visual and Performing Arts, UNC Greensboro
2017 Best of Show, A Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA
Dean’s Research/ Creative Initiative Award, College of Visual and Performing Arts, UNC at Greensboro
Scholars Travel Award, UNC at Greensboro
2015 Kohler International Travel Award, UNC at Greensboro
Scholars International Travel Award, UNC at Greensboro
2010-11 Fulbright Scholars Research Award, Painting Bridging Time: The Egyptian Fayum Mummy Portraits, Cairo, Egypt
2009 Teaching Excellence Award, UNCG College of Arts and Sciences
2004 Summer Excellence Grant, UNC at Greensboro
Residencies
2025. Poetry and Collage Residency, Kolaj Institute, New Orleans, LA
2018 AiR DRAWinternational, Caylus, France
2010 2010 International Ceramic Symposium, Fayum, Egypt
2007 Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residencies, Saugatuck, Michigan
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont
Visiting Artist Lectures
2025. Interval, Winston-Salem, NC
2021. Guest Lecturer, Invited by Eve Aschheim, Princeton University
2019 University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
2017 Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst, NC
2012 Painting Bridging Time, Gatewood Lecture Series, Weatherspoon Art Museum, UNC Greensboro
2009 Elon University, Elon, NC
Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN
2007 Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residencies, Saugatuck, MI
2005 Roanoke College, Salem, VA, Lecture in conjunction with exhibition
2004 Art on Paper, Panel discussion, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
Periodicals/ Press
2025. Lunch Ticket, Issue 27: Summer / Fall 2025, Antioch University
https://lunchticket.org/extended-whirlpool-of-negatives/
88.5 WFDD - Public Radio For The Piedmont | By David Ford, Published November 3, 2025 at 4:30 PM EST
https://www.wfdd.org/arts/2025-11-03/winston-salems-new-space-for-the-arts-interval-wrapping-its-first-exhibit
88.5 WFDD - Public Radio For The Piedmont | By David Ford, Published September 3, 2025 at 2:59 PM EST
https://www.wunc.org/2025-09-03/a-new-creative-space-to-open-in-the-city-of-arts-and-innovation
In the Studio with Mariam Aziza Stephan, by Paul Bright, March 20, 2025, BURNAWAY
https://burnaway.org/daily/in-the-studio-with-mariam-aziza-stephan/
2022 Roberts, Liza, Art of the State: Celebrating the Visual Arts of North Carolina, Published by University of North Carolina Press
Guilty by Association Will Present Its First Art Cities Program, HypeArt, HYPEBEAST,
https://hypebeast.com/2022/11/gba-artcities-winston-salem-north-carolina
2019 Hatched in the Drift, Works on Paper by Mariam Aziza Stephan and Poems by Julia Johnson, Traffic St. Press
2011 الخيال, Cairo, Egypt, January 2011, review of 2010 International Ceramic symposium by Ibrahim Ghazala
2010 International Ceramic Symposium Exhibition Catalogue, produced by the Ministry of Culture, Egypt
2009 Press-Register, Mobile. AL, March 29, review by Thomas Harrison
2006 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 27, review by Kurt Shaw
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 12, review by Terry Young
2002 MFA Catalog, June, essay by Rod Slemmons
Art Papers Magazine, July / August, review by Jill Conner Seattle Times, April 14, review by Matthew Kangus
The Stranger, December 21-27, review by Emily Hall
Professional Experience
2021- Professor, Painting, UNC at Greensboro
2010- 2021 Associate Professor, Painting, UNC at Greensboro
2004-2010 Assistant Professor, Painting, UNC at Greensboro
2004 Adjunct Faculty, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
2003 Adjunct Faculty, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN
2001-02 Instructor, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
UNC at Greensboro Service
2025- Director of Gatewood Gallery, School of Art, UNCG
2018-19 Co-director, Upstairs @GPS: Contemporary Issues in Art Discussion Series, Greensboro Project Space
2012- 18 Director of Graduate Studies, School of Art
2015-16 Coordinator, Creative Arts Network (CAN), Messenger Project Director
2014-15 Co-director, Center for Creative Writing in the Arts
2009-2015 Board Member, Center for Creative Writing in the Arts
Education
MFA, Painting 2002 University of Washington, Seattle, WA
BFA, Painting and Drawing 1995 Minneapolis College of Art and Design, MN
Fellowship 1994 L’Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, Italy
2025 A Montage That Tells a Truth in This Bound Flesh: An Ongoing Conversation: Drawings by Mariam Aziza Stephan and Poems by Julia Johnson, Greensboro Project Space, NC
2021 Extraction: Art on the Edge of the Abyss, Exhibit D: Aftermath, No. 3 Reading Room and Photo Book Works, Beacon, NY
2019 Exit North, El Horreya Center for Creativity, Alexandria, Egypt
Hatched in the Drift, Collaborative project with Poet Julia Johnson, No.3 Reading Room and Photo Book Works, Beacon, NY
Seasons for Ibrahim, Public Video Art Installation, Block2, Raleigh
In the arches, we cave, Artspace, Raleigh, NC
2018 In the Middle of Far Away, Henry Zarrow Art Center, Tulsa OK
The World and Other Worlds, Greensboro Project Space, NC
2017 Swing Shift, Barrister’s Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Mariam Stephan: Paintings and Drawings, Hastings Gallery, Sandhills Community College, NC
2015 Shifting Undercurrents, Kamal Khalifa Gallery, Gezira Art Center, Cairo, Egypt
Aftermath, KNOX Gallery, Monterey Library, Monterey, MA
2013 Boat / Scape, Project Room, The Painting Center, NYC
2009 Paintings, Elon University Gallery, Elon, NC
Convening In-Between, Eichold Gallery, Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL
2005 Paintings, Olin Gallery, Roanoke College, Salem VA
2004 Paintings, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Group Exhibitions
2025. Interleavings, Interval, Winston-Salem, NC (three-person show)
Weather, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2022 GBA Art Cities House Party Exhibition, Arts Council of Winston Salem, NC
2020 Escapes and Revelations: 2018-19 NC Artist Fellows, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art -SECCA, Winston-Salem, NC
2017 A Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA
Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2012 Today’s Visual Language: Southern Abstraction, A Fresh Look, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile AL
Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2011 2010 International Ceramic Symposium Exhibition, Fustat Art Center, Cairo, Egypt
2010 Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2009 UNCG Faculty Exhibition, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
Paradigms, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis MN
2008 Color Key, The Painting Center, curated by Patrick Webb, NYC, NY
Pierogi 2000, Flat Files, Brooklyn, NY (ongoing inclusion)
War, Madness, and Delusion, Andover Newton Theological School
Newton Centre, MA, curated by W. James Herbert
Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2007 Bowery Gallery Juried Show, Juror: John Walker, New York, NY
Equivalents, San Francisco Studio School 1st Annual National Juried
Competition, San Francisco, CA
Wish You Were Here: work by Ox-bow Artists in Residence, Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, MI
2006 Pinch Hitters, SPACE, Pittsburgh PA
Art on Paper Biennial, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2005 Abstraction Obstruction: Working the Meridians, SOIL Gallery, Seattle WA
2004 Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
Collections
Raleigh Municipal Art Collection, North Carolina
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
Egyptian Ministry of Culture, Cairo, Egypt
Grants / Awards
2024. Dean’s Research/ Creative Initiative Award, College of Visual and Performing Arts, UNC Greensboro
2018 North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship
Kohler International Travel Award, UNC Greensboro
Dean’s Research/ Creative Initiative Award, College of Visual and Performing Arts, UNC Greensboro
2017 Best of Show, A Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA
Dean’s Research/ Creative Initiative Award, College of Visual and Performing Arts, UNC at Greensboro
Scholars Travel Award, UNC at Greensboro
2015 Kohler International Travel Award, UNC at Greensboro
Scholars International Travel Award, UNC at Greensboro
2010-11 Fulbright Scholars Research Award, Painting Bridging Time: The Egyptian Fayum Mummy Portraits, Cairo, Egypt
2009 Teaching Excellence Award, UNCG College of Arts and Sciences
2004 Summer Excellence Grant, UNC at Greensboro
Residencies
2025. Poetry and Collage Residency, Kolaj Institute, New Orleans, LA
2018 AiR DRAWinternational, Caylus, France
2010 2010 International Ceramic Symposium, Fayum, Egypt
2007 Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residencies, Saugatuck, Michigan
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont
Visiting Artist Lectures
2025. Interval, Winston-Salem, NC
2021. Guest Lecturer, Invited by Eve Aschheim, Princeton University
2019 University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
2017 Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst, NC
2012 Painting Bridging Time, Gatewood Lecture Series, Weatherspoon Art Museum, UNC Greensboro
2009 Elon University, Elon, NC
Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN
2007 Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residencies, Saugatuck, MI
2005 Roanoke College, Salem, VA, Lecture in conjunction with exhibition
2004 Art on Paper, Panel discussion, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
Periodicals/ Press
2025. Lunch Ticket, Issue 27: Summer / Fall 2025, Antioch University
https://lunchticket.org/extended-whirlpool-of-negatives/
88.5 WFDD - Public Radio For The Piedmont | By David Ford, Published November 3, 2025 at 4:30 PM EST
https://www.wfdd.org/arts/2025-11-03/winston-salems-new-space-for-the-arts-interval-wrapping-its-first-exhibit
88.5 WFDD - Public Radio For The Piedmont | By David Ford, Published September 3, 2025 at 2:59 PM EST
https://www.wunc.org/2025-09-03/a-new-creative-space-to-open-in-the-city-of-arts-and-innovation
In the Studio with Mariam Aziza Stephan, by Paul Bright, March 20, 2025, BURNAWAY
https://burnaway.org/daily/in-the-studio-with-mariam-aziza-stephan/
2022 Roberts, Liza, Art of the State: Celebrating the Visual Arts of North Carolina, Published by University of North Carolina Press
Guilty by Association Will Present Its First Art Cities Program, HypeArt, HYPEBEAST,
https://hypebeast.com/2022/11/gba-artcities-winston-salem-north-carolina
2019 Hatched in the Drift, Works on Paper by Mariam Aziza Stephan and Poems by Julia Johnson, Traffic St. Press
2011 الخيال, Cairo, Egypt, January 2011, review of 2010 International Ceramic symposium by Ibrahim Ghazala
2010 International Ceramic Symposium Exhibition Catalogue, produced by the Ministry of Culture, Egypt
2009 Press-Register, Mobile. AL, March 29, review by Thomas Harrison
2006 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 27, review by Kurt Shaw
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 12, review by Terry Young
2002 MFA Catalog, June, essay by Rod Slemmons
Art Papers Magazine, July / August, review by Jill Conner Seattle Times, April 14, review by Matthew Kangus
The Stranger, December 21-27, review by Emily Hall
Professional Experience
2021- Professor, Painting, UNC at Greensboro
2010- 2021 Associate Professor, Painting, UNC at Greensboro
2004-2010 Assistant Professor, Painting, UNC at Greensboro
2004 Adjunct Faculty, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
2003 Adjunct Faculty, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN
2001-02 Instructor, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
UNC at Greensboro Service
2025- Director of Gatewood Gallery, School of Art, UNCG
2018-19 Co-director, Upstairs @GPS: Contemporary Issues in Art Discussion Series, Greensboro Project Space
2012- 18 Director of Graduate Studies, School of Art
2015-16 Coordinator, Creative Arts Network (CAN), Messenger Project Director
2014-15 Co-director, Center for Creative Writing in the Arts
2009-2015 Board Member, Center for Creative Writing in the Arts
Education
MFA, Painting 2002 University of Washington, Seattle, WA
BFA, Painting and Drawing 1995 Minneapolis College of Art and Design, MN
Fellowship 1994 L’Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, Italy