Photo by Ace Lehner
Libby Paloma
Libby Paloma (she/they) is a queer, Mexican-American interdisciplinary artist working in sculpture, installation, and performance. Inspired by ways familiar materials can be recontextualized to create something new and superb through layered textures, contexts and storytelling, Paloma utilizes installation, labor-intensive sculpture, and performance to create delightfully dazzling pieces. Her sculptural works are typically activated via interactive sensory components or performance. Paloma’s sculptural works, often representational and humorous, utilize contemporary craft materials and traditional sewing techniques to examine aspects of their intersectional queer/Latinx identity. Paloma has been an artist in residence at the Clemente, NY, NY; Space, Portland, ME; The Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT; The Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY. In 2024, Paloma had many speaking engagements, including participating as a panelist for the College Art Association (CAA), The International Visual Sociology Association (IVSA), and at Tufts University for the Symposium “How do you throw a brick through the window…”. Paloma’s work will be featured in two upcoming exhibitions also titled, “How do you throw a brick through the window…” at Tufts University, Medford, MA, in 2025 and Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI, in 2026. Paloma’s assemblage series Lo Que No Sabrías (What You Wouldn’t Know) was published in Visual Studies Journal, February-May 2023, along with a roundtable discussion, she participated in exploring questions of intersectional identity, representation, and collaboration.
Paloma’s work has recently been exhibited at El Museo Del Barrio in New York, NY; Burlington City Arts (BCA), Burlington, VT; SOMArts in San Francisco, CA; SPACE Gallery, Portland, ME; Geary Contemporary, Millerton, NY, Silvermine Gallery, New Canaan, CT, Spring Break Art Fair, New York, NY, Unprofessional Variety Show, New York, NY, The University of Southern Maine in Gorham, ME, and the Dorsky Museum in New Paltz, NY, where they received the Artist Purchase Award. Paloma has a varied 20-year-long career that spans educational settings, having worked as a counselor, teacher, and Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) prior to pursuing their art career. Paloma holds a Bachelor’s Degree (BA) in Liberal Studies, a Master’s of Science Degree (MS) in Communicative Disorders from San Francisco State University and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from Parsons School of Design, The New School, where she received the President and University full Scholarship.
CV available here.