Isabelle Garbani

Ox:   Recycle ME (Maine)

About the Artist

Isabelle Garbani grew up in France and is currently a Brooklyn-based artist.  In 1984, her family moved from France to Boston, and she discovered that American culture rewarded and praised individualism, and for her, a cultural yoke was lifted- she was free to experiment and pursue her art.

Much of what motivates her art comes from the constant dichotomy in her life: that this country is her home and not her home, and her choice of materials reflects this paradoxical view. Plastic is indispensable and it is completely unnecessary; it is vital to our modern lives and it is harmful to our environment; it is a true technological achievement and a sign of our failure.

In 2004, Garbani received her MFA from the New York Academy of Art, and she currently works in mixed media, using traditionally feminine crafts such as knitting and crochet, with recycled materials such as plastic bags.
Garbani has exhibited extensively in the New York metropolitan area and northeast, with solo exhibits at the Earlville Opera House and at BoxHeart Gallery in Pittsburgh.  In 2012, she was awarded an artist-in-residence at the Cheng-Long International Environmental Art Project in Taiwan, followed by a studio residency at Chashama in Brooklyn.

Most recently, the artist was chosen to participate in the Mentoring Program for Immigrant Artists sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts.