Upcoming Exhibitions

The work of Jovencio de la Paz is situated in the intersection of radically different technologies: the loom and the modern computer. They approach this intersection both as a traditionally trained weaver and a digital native. Sharing the same language of binary code, this ancient technology and software are both exploited, disrupted and even undermined in de la Paz’s work. They use the digital TC2 (Thread Controller 2) Jacquard loom to manipulate, hack, confound, and fracture design software to explore and test the boundaries of how cloth is typically conceived. They push design software to the point of rupture or failure, capturing the physicality of these behaviors as the warp and weft of hand- woven textiles. Consequently, the works become irreducibly unique “accidents” or formal aberrations. As such, the material history and conceptual nature of the work reflects and embodies the personal politics and non binary identity of the artist not merely as a form of affirmative representation, but rather as a complex space of potential.

Jovencio de la Paz (b. 1986, Republic of Singapore) lives and works in Eugene, Oregon. Jovencio received a Master of Fine Art in Fibers from the Cranbrook Academy of Art (2012) and a Bachelor of Fine Art with an emphasis on Fiber and Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2008). They have exhibited work in solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally, most recently at PPOW Gallery in New York, NY; Dallas Contemporary in Dallas, TX; the Museum of Art and Design in New York, NY; the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles; Cranbrook Museum of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI; R & Company Gallery in New York, NY; Vacation Gallery in New York, NY; The 2019 Portland Biennial at Oregon Contemporary in Portland, OR; The Museum of Craft and Folk-art in Los Angeles, CA; The Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, CO; Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, South Korea; The Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR; The Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago; Uri Gallery, Seoul, South Korea, Slash Gallery in Seattle, WA; the 2024 Immigrant Artist Biennial in New York; the ICA at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, PA; among others. In 2022, de la Paz was awarded the prestigious United States Artists Fellowship for their significant contributions to the field of weaving. They are represented by Chris Sharp Gallery in Los Angeles, California. Jovencio de la Paz is an Associate Professor and Head of Fibers at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon USA.

www.jovenciodelapaz.com

www.chrissharpgallery.com

Senior Exhibition is a capstone requirement for all UNCW seniors graduating with a major in Studio Art.

Shabnam Jannesari is a distinguished Iranian artist whose work has been widely exhibited across the United States and internationally. She earned her Master of Fine Arts (MFA), with honors, from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Her solo exhibition She Sat Where the Light Awaited is on view at the Erie Art Museum (Erie, PA) from September 2025 through March 2026. Recent exhibitions include Made in the Plains at the Joslyn Art Museum (Omaha, NE, 2025) and Look but Look with Love, a two-person show at the NARS Foundation (Brooklyn, NY, 2024).

She has presented solo exhibitions such as Each String is a Thread, Each Color a Chord at the Nebraska Arts Council (Omaha, NE) and The Carpet Grew Like a Garden at Gallery 263 (Cambridge, MA). Her work has also been featured in group exhibitions including the Mid-Atlantic Biennial at the University of Mary Washington (VA), A Pot Nudged into Oblivion at Miranda Art Project Space (NYC), Narrative Imperative at the University of Connecticut, and Domestic State at Wheaton College (MA).

Her paintings are held in both private and institutional collections, including Fidelity Investments and the University of Massachusetts School of Law.

Jannesari’s work explores the struggles and resilience of Iranian women, addressing themes of identity, memory, and societal expectation.

She is a recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant (2020, 2022) and the Distinguished Art Fellowship at UMass Dartmouth (2018–2021). In 2025, she was selected for the prestigious Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture residency.

She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

www.shabnamjannesari.com 

Senior Exhibition is a capstone requirement for all UNCW seniors graduating with a major in Studio Art.