MIA SCARPA
︎ ABOUT ME ︎ ABOUT ME ︎ ABOUT ME ︎
Mia Scarpa (b. 1997) is an artist from Boston, Massachusetts. Currently living and working in Los Angeles, California.
She received a BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2020.
Mia Scarpa (b. 1997) is a painter from Middleton, Massachusetts. Growing up, she also spent a majority of her time in Barnstead, New Hampshire. Mia is currently living and working in Los Angeles, California. In 2020 she received a BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design, where she was awarded the Florence Leif Award as well as the Nicolette Ausschnitt ‘66 Endowed Scholarship.
Mia recently presented her debut solo show “Masshole”, at Spy Projects in Los Angeles in April. Other recent select exhibitions featuring Mia’s work include Straight Ahead & Pose-to-pose at The Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in Los Angeles (2022), Summer Fling at L.U.P.O. Lorenzelli Projects in Milan (2022), You Lead Follow Me at Sow & Tailor in Los Angeles(2021), Hello World at Spy Projects in Los Angeles (2021), Fast and Small, a pop-up show located inside of a U-haul truck in Providence, Rhode Island (2019), Peers Whose Work I Admire at Memorial Hall in Providence, Rhode Island (2019), and Spring Cleaning at the Old Mailroom Gallery in Providence, Rhode Island (2019).
Scarpa’s work often explores the relational distinction between art and craft and the inherent hierarchical value given to the word “art”, while “craft” holds a different and often lesser connotation. The work is very material-based and is inspired by things such as collection, humor, clutter, garages, toys, stickers, album covers, music, man caves, cartoons, dogs, treasured objects, motorcycles, memory, home, lake landscapes, and other seemingly unconnected things. It incorporates unique references in regard to imagery, they range from the specific, to the purposeful, to the literal, to the completely ambiguous.
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