Anna Sew Hoy

Anna Sew Hoy (b. 1976, Auckland, New Zealand) is a sculptor and visual artist based in Los Angeles.^[1]

Life and work

Sew Hoy completed her BFA at the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1998 and finished her MFA at Bard College in 2008.^[2] Known for her abstract sculptures made from fabric and clay (often associated with craft or handiwork), the artist is interested in different materials being able to create a sense of intimacy within sparse installation environments.^[3][4] She began working with clay in high school (in a figure-sculpting class). Particularly interested in working with clay, she often begins with solid blocks of it and then adds fabrics, such as jean material or velvet flocking, metal elements, wood, rubber, and mirrors to create pieces that are both industrial and organic.^[4][2][5] In addition to making sculptures, which she wants to integrate into domestic, everyday settings, Sew Hoy also performs in and around her work.^[3][2][6]

Since 2007, Sew Hoy has been a visiting lecturer at UCLA, UC Irvine, USC, and Otis College of Art and Design. She has also been a visiting artist/guest lecturer at CalArts, ArtCenter, Pacific Northwest College of Art, SOMA in Mexico City, San Francisco State University, and San Francisco Institute of Art, among others.^[7]

Exhibitions

Solo shows:

• 2015: “Magnetic Between,” Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO
• 2013: "Planets Making Planets," Performance with Math Bass and Claire Kohne, Commissioned by LAND Nomadic Nights, Los Angeles
• 2011: "Nothing All Day: Anna Sew Hoy,” San Jose Museum of Art, CA
• 2008: "POW!," LAXART, Los Angeles, CA

Group shows:

• 2015: “Surface of Color,” The Pit, Los Angeles, CA
• 2014: “Made In LA,” Hammer Museum, Los Angeles Museum of Art's Installation
• 2013: "Prospect 2013," Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
• 2013: "And How Are We Feeling Today?" University Art Gallery, UCSD, San Diego
• 2011: "The More Things Change," San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
• 2009: "Electric Mud," curated by David Pagel, Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, TX
• 2008: "California Biennal 2008," Orange County Museum of Art, CA
• 2008: "Sew Hoy, Lutker, Youngblood," University Art Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara
• 2008: "Now You See It," Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado
• 2007: "Edens Edge: Fifteen LA Artists,” Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
• 2006: "Cosmic Wonder," Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
• 2005: "Diamond Hand Grenade," Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis

Publications

Anna Sew Hoy: Suppose and a Pair of Jeans, Published by RAM Distribution, May 2013, ISBN 978-0983077329

Representation

Anna Sew Hoy is represented by Various Small Fires in Los Angeles, CA and Koenig & Clinton in Brooklyn, NY^[8].

References