Elnaz Javani’s, assistant professor of Fibers, solo exhibition Dwelling Places was on display at Tiger Strikes Asteroid in Chicago, IL from June 24 to August 23. Dwelling Places is a new body of work which includes small and large-scale, hand-dyed and printed textiles that incorporate surface manipulation, appliqué, and hand-stitching. Exploring how the body is affected and shaped by its negotiations with the objects and spaces around them, Javani creates surfaces in which identities are constantly being reconsidered and set into new relations with their surroundings, addressing the slippage that is always present.

Javani was also chosen as part of The Center for Craft’s inaugural Teaching Artist Cohort and recipient of a $10,000 grant. Javani was chosen alongside 20 other teaching artists. The program supports artist-educators in building and sustaining a generative practice, providing them with funding that may allow time away from teaching to focus on their art – which will, in turn, create an enriching impact on the communities they engage. The Teaching Artist Cohort experience is tailored to mid-career craft artists whose practices include arts education, defined broadly by the Center in recognition of the many paths craft education can take.