Ambika Trasi is an artist based in Philadelphia, PA. Her work examines how coloniality is encoded into objects, sites, products, flora, fauna, and interpersonal relationships. She considers how acts of trade and exchange may shift and destabilize power dynamics.
Trasi recently exhibited her work at Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia and Heroes Gallery, New York. She has presented lecture-performances and video work at Twelve Gates Gallery, Philadelphia; Asia Art Archive in America, Brooklyn; Jack Shainman Gallery, New York; and HANGAR - Centro de Investigação Artística, Lisbon. Alongside her art practice, Trasi has worked as an arts organizer, curator, and writer for over 12 years, contributing her labor to various collaborative platforms, artist collectives, and major arts institutions. She earned a B.F.A. from New York University in 2010 and is currently enrolled in the M.F.A. program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Contact: ambika.trasi@gmail.com
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CV:
EDUCATION
M.F.A., the University of Pennsylvania, expected 2026; Stuart Egnal Scholarship Award for outstanding performance in any medium
B.F.A., Studio Art, concentration in printmaking; minor in South Asian Studies, New York University, 2010; Dean’s List; Founders' Day Award
Coursework towards Certificate in Arts Management, New York University, 2012
GROUP EXHIBITIONS, SCREENINGS, PERFORMANCES
12Gates & PAAFF's Contemporary Video Art Exhibition 2024, screening, Twelve Gates Arts Gallery in collaboration with the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, November 2, 2024
Dawn Chorus, sound exhibition and published compilation, PM BOOKS, 2024
The Soul of the White Ant II, lecture-performance for Tracing Histories, Asia Art Archive in America, Brooklyn, July 19, 2023
Eco/Systems, exhibition, Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia, March 5–July 31, 2022
Shanta Rao and the Tiger, lecture-performance, IATP Symposium, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, May 13, 2022
Gnaw, exhibition, Heroes Gallery, New York, February 26–March 10, 2022
Shanta Rao and the Tiger, lecture-performance, College Art Association Conference 2022, Chicago, February 19, 2022
NYU Art Alumni Show, exhibition, curated by Chrissie Iles, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art, Gallery One, 80 Washington Square East New York, NY, October 26–November 4, 2018
The Soul of the White Ant, lecture-performance, presented by 1010 Residency at Bushwick Open Studios, Brooklyn, September 24, 2017
The Soul of the White Ant, lecture-performance, HANGAR - Centro de Investigação Artística, Lisbon, March 24, 2017
Remix Rememory, exhibition, No Longer Empty Curatorial Lab, Jamaica Colosseum, Queens, December 3–18, 2017
Everyone In Their Own Way, exhibition, Arts Guild of New Jersey, Rahway, NJ, March 20–April 14, 2016
Patterns of Interaction II, screening, Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, Milwaukee, April 30, 2016
Patterns of Interaction I In Focus: An Afternoon of Film and Video, screening, the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective, New York, NY, December 14, 2014
PUBLIC PROGRAMS, LECTURES, TALKS
An Afternoon Dedicated to Power / Play, moderated by curator Ambika Trasi and featured artists Sophia Balagamwala and Noormah Jamal, Twelve Gates Arts Gallery, May 11, 2024
Artist talk with Abir Karmakar, moderator, Aicon Contemporary, New York, November 2, 2023
Artist talk with Maya Varadaraj, moderator, Aicon Contemporary, New York, August 3, 2023
IATP Symposium, panelist, moderated by Meleko Mokgosi and Cassandra Guan, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, May 13, 2022
Embodied Dualities, moderator, panel discussion with Sarika Goulatia, Rit Premnath, and Kaveri Raina, organized by the National Indo American Museum, April 10, 2022
Beyond In/Visibility: the Politics of Asian American Representation in American Art, panelist, College Art Association Conference 2022, Chicago (virtual), February 19, 2022
Ask a Curator: Jennifer Packer: The Eye Is Not Satisfied With Seeing, Whitney Museum of American Art, December 14, 2021
Moderator, Ask a Curator: Dawoud Bey: An American Project, Whitney Museum of American Art, May 6, 2021
Panelist, Pratt > FORWARD: Artists Creating Opportunities for Artists & Sustaining your Practice, Pratt Institute, New York, artist / panelist with Nina Chanel Abney, Derrick Adams, Titus Kaphar, Jane South and Mickelene Thomas, April 1, 2021
Panelist, Curators in Conversation: Christopher Y. Lew and Ambika Trasi, IFA Contemporary Asia, The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, March 22, 2021
Lecturer, Lecture by Ambika Trasi: Behind the (Art) Scene Series, SUNY Purchase School of Art and Design, March 10, 2021
Panelist, Ask a Curator: Salman Toor: How Will I Know, Whitney Museum of American Art, February 4, 2020
Moderator, Salman Toor in conversation with Chitra Ganesh, November 16, 2020
Organizer / Moderator, On Place as Palimpsest: Zalika Azim and Maya Jeffereis in Conversation with Ambika Trasi, Tulsa Artist Fellowship Institute, organizer and moderator, August 28
Moderator, Artist Talk and Q&A with Nirmal Raja: On “Feeble Barriers” and “The Wall Within,” South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (SAWCC), August 4, 2020
Moderator, In conversation with Umber Majeed and Ambika Trasi, Twelve Gates Art, Philadelphia, May 19, 2020
Lecturer, Who is seen vs. unseen?: Race and Gender Relations within Institutions and Museum Spaces, Studio Art Practice MFA Program, School of Visual Arts, New York, July 20, 2020
Lecturer, On Curating How Will I Know, FIT, History of Art Department, State University of New York, New York, April 1, 2020
Presenter/Panelist, All Together Now: Artists' Collectives Push and Pull, College Art Association (CAA) Conference 2019, New York, February 16, 2019
Panelist, Stories from Asian Diaspora: Community Organizers & Activists, NARS Foundation, Brooklyn, February 15, 2018
Panelist, Studies Project: Diasporic Conventions, Movement Research Festival, Abrons Arts Center, New York, November 29, 2017
Panelist, Patterns of Interaction / In Focus: An Afternoon of Film and Video, Screening and Q&A, the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (SAWCC), December 14, 2014
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
“Sangram Majumdar: Choreographed Gestures” essay for the exhibition catalogue, somewhere elsewhere: Sangram Majumdar, Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke and Jak Printers, Mumbai, 2024
“Abir Karmakar’s Invisible Eye,” curatorial essay for the exhibition catalogue, Nightjar, Aicon Contemporary, New York, 2023
“Dear Maya: An Epistolary Curatorial Essay,” curatorial essay for the exhibition catalogue, Maya Varadaraj: No Feeling is Final, Aicon Contemporary, New York, 2023
“A Scream, A Growl,” Artist Pages published in Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas journal, Volume 8: Issue 1-2 (May 2023): Imagining an Interval: Towards a Potential Asian and Diasporic American Art History(ies), Edited by Grace Yasumura and Z. Serena Qiu, 2023
Artist entry for Alex Anderson in Clay Pop, published by Rizzoli New York, edited by Alia Dahl, 2023
“Poetic Abstraction: A Space for Monsters,” curatorial essay for A Space for Monsters, Twelve Gates Arts, Philadelphia (forthcoming)
“Alex Anderson and Michael Stamm,” press release, Deli Gallery, New York, 2022
“The Persistent Colonial Gaze: Tipu’s Tiger, Then and Now,” Arcade Project, 2020
“The Self as Cipher: Salman Toor’s Narrative Paintings,” curatorial essay for Salman Toor: How Will I Know, Whitney Museum of American Art, 2020
“20 Years of the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective,” Archival Alchemy exhibition catalogue, the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective, 2017
“Curatorial Narrative, FIELD MEETING Take 4: Thinking Practice,” IBRAAZ Journal for Contemporary Visual Culture in North Africa and the Middle East, 2016
“Introduction to Welcome to what we took from is the state,” exhibition catalogue essay, the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective, 2016
SELECTED PRESS
South Asian childhood seen through a lens of metaphor and play, in ‘Power/Play’ at Twelve Gates Arts, review by Vriddhi Vinay, Artblog, Philadelphia, May 13, 2024
Jennifer Packer Shows Us the Responsibility of Seeing, by Seph Rodney, Hyperallergic, February 8, 2022
Salman Toor: From Pakistan with Love, interview with Salman Toor by David Molesky, Juxtapoz Magazine, Winter 2022
Artists Raise $85K for Relief in Flood-Stricken Pakistan, by Valentina Di Liscia, Hyperallergic, October 3, 2022
How Salman Toor Left the Old Masters Behind, artist profile by Calvin Tomkins, The New Yorker, August 1, 2022
Best of 2021: Our Top 10 New York City Art Shows, by Debra Brehmer, Hyperallergic, December 7, 2021
Curating South Asian Voices With Care, interview with the South Asian Institute, Chicago, April 2021
Magical and visceral, 12 Gates Arts embraces ‘A Space for Monsters,’ review by Corey Qureshi, Artblog, Philadelphia, March 5, 2021
Salman Toor at the Whitney, review by Karen Wilkin, The New Criterion, March 2021
Salman Toor’s ‘How Will I Know’ Exhibition At Whitney Museum Is A Homecoming For The ‘Other’, feature by Nahal Amouzadeh, WNET: All Arts, February 23, 2021
Painting Here And Now, review by Marina Molarsky-Beck, Texte Zur Kunst, Jan. 22, 2021
Pakistani Artist Salman Toor's Success Was a Surprise, profile by Cody Delistraty, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 16, 2021
Salman Toor, a Painter at Home in Two Worlds, review by Roberta Smith, The New York Times, Dec. 23, 2020
Salman Toor's Visual Autofiction, exhibition review by Cleo Roberts, Ocula, December 22, 2020
Salman Toor’s “How Will I Know”, review by Murtaza Vali, e-flux Criticism, December 4, 2020
Salman Toor’s Dreamy Scenes Imagine the Queer, South Asian Everyday, by Isabel Ling, Hyperallergic, December 1, 2020
Cosmopolitan Other: Salman Toor, review by David Everitt Howe, Mousse Magazine, June 30, 2020
Goings On About Town: Salman Toor, essay review by Johanna Fateman, New Yorker, July 6 & 13, 2020
Three online exhibitions honouring Pride Month, feature by Gabriella Angeleti, José da Silva and Gareth Harris, The Art Newspaper, June 26, 2020
Two Artists, Two Views of the Human Figure, by Ted Loos, The New York Times, March 11, 2020
Best of 2019: Our Top NYC Art Shows, by Dessane Lopez Cassell, Hyperallergic, December 10, 2019
RESIDENCIES, ADDITIONAL SCHOLARSHIP / RESEARCH
Sachs Professor Research Assistant for Sondra Perry, Keith L. and Katherine S. Sachs Visiting Professor in the Department of Fine Arts, 2025-2026, The University of Pennsylvania
Participant, “Innovative Rural-Scape",” SEU-Penn Summer School, Southeast University, School of Architecture, and The University of Pennsylvania, Weitzman School of Design, Nanjing, China, May 22-June 6, 2025
Sachs Professor Research Fellow for Paul Pfeiffer, Keith L. and Katherine S. Sachs Visiting Professor in the Department of Fine Arts, 2024-2025, The University of Pennsylvania
Student, Research-Based Practice for Creative Writers, facilitated by An Duplan, 2022
Participant, Interdisciplinary Art and Theory Program, New York, Session: Differencing Art, facilitated by Meleko Mokgosi, Anna Stothart, Anthea Behm, and Miranda Samuels, 2021-2022
Student, Black Arts Movement School Modality, Session I: Focus on Chicago, facilitated by Romi Crawford, Ekalan Hou, Kelly Lloyd, Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky, Fred Moten, and Stefano Harney, 2021
Participant, Leadership Camp, Asia Art Archive in America, Brooklyn, facilitated by Christopher K. Ho and Jane DeBevoise, 2018
Artist-in-Residence, HANGAR - Centro de Investigação Artística, Lisbon, 2017
Artist-in-Residence, 1010 Residency, New York, 2016–2017
Artist-in-Residence, Gallery Aferro, Newark, 2013–2014
CURATORIAL
Curator, Power / Play, Twelve Gates Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, March 15–May 18, 2024
Curator, Nightjar: Abir Karmakar, Aicon Contemporary, New York, November 2–December 2, 2023
Curator, Maya Varadaraj: No Feeling is Final, Aicon Contemporary, New York, August 3–September 9, 2023
Curator, A Space for Monsters, Twelve Gates Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, February 5–April 11, 2021
Co-curator, Salman Toor: How Will I Know, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 13, 2020–April 4, 2021
Curatorial Assistant, Jennifer Packer: The Eye Is Not Satisfied With Seeing, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 30, 2021–April 17, 2022
Curatorial Assistant, Making Knowing: Craft in Art, 1950–2019, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 22, 2019–February 20, 2022
Curatorial Assistant, Dawoud Bey: An American Project, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 17–October 3, 2021
Curatorial Assistant, Pope.L: Choir, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 10, 2019–March 8, 2020
Curatorial Assistant, Kevin Beasley: A view of a landscape, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 15, 2018–March 10, 2019
Curatorial Assistant, Eckhaus Latta: Possessed, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, August 3–October 8, 2018
Exhibition Manager, Archival Alchemy, Abrons Arts Center at the Henry Street Settlement, New York, organized by the South Asian Womxn’s Creative Collective, April 6–May 10, 2017
Curatorial Assistant, FIELD MEETING Take 4: Thinking Practice, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Asia Society Museum, New York, organized by Asia Contemporary Art Week, November 11–12, 2016
Exhibition Manager, welcome to what we took from is the state, Queens Museum, Queens, organized by the South Asian Womxn’s Creative Collective, March 12, 2016 – April 2, 2016
Curatorial Assistant, FIELD MEETING Take 3: Thinking Performance, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Hunter College Art Galleries, and Performa Hub, New York, organized by Asia Contemporary Art Week (ACAW), October 31–November 2, 2015
Curatorial Assistant, Lee Mingwei’s Sonic Blossom, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, co-organized by Asia Contemporary Art Week, October 30–November 8th, 2015
Curatorial Assistant, THINKING CURRENTS, Seattle Art Fair, Seattle, July 30–August 2, 2015
Co-curator, FIELD MEETING Take 2: An Afterthought, Hosted by My Art Guides, Venice Meeting Point at the Arsennale, Navy Officer’s Club, a collateral event during the 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, May 8, 2015
Curatorial Assistant, FIELD MEETING Take 1: Critical of the Future, Asia Society Museum, New York, organized by Asia Contemporary Art Week, October 26–27, 2014
Curatorial Assistant, Arahmaiani: Fertility of the Mind, Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York, January 9–February 22, 2014
RELEVANT PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT
Studio Manager, Josh Kline Studio, New York, 2022–2023
Curatorial Assistant, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2017–2022
Managing Director and Curatorial Assistant, Asia Contemporary Art Week, New York, 2013–2017
ADDITIONAL SERVICE
Visiting critic / curator at artist residencies including NARS Foundation, Smack Mellon, ISPC residency, EFA Project Space, Hyde Park Art Center, and more, ongoing
Selection Panel Juror for 2022–23 fellows, Tulsa Artist Fellowship, Tulsa, 2021
Juror for Diasporic Rhizome exhibition, South Asia Institute, Chicago, 2021
Volunteer board member and exhibition manager, South Asian Womxn’s Creative Collective, New York, 2015–2019; co-chair, 2017–2019
Selection Panel Juror for 2019 Artists-in-Residents, NARS Foundation Residency, Brooklyn, 2018